The UK’s 4G LTE coverage is the same as a number of much larger and less developed countries, including India, Brazil, and Russia.
That’s just one of the findings of OpenSignal’s recent report on the current state of LTE around the world.
“In general we’re seeing both speeds and 4G availability creeping up across the globe,” reads the report. It also claims that we’re seeing “awe-inspiring” data rates in “seemingly unlikely places like eastern Europe,” while early adopters like the US are starting to fall behind.
On a local note, the report found that the UK currently provides 4G access to only 50 percent of its population. That places us in 53rd position out of the 68 4G-enabled nations polled, and sees us in the company of Brazil, India, Russia, and Greece.
Once again, South Korea leads the way on LTE availability with a staggering 97 percent of the population able to access 4G. Japan, Hong Kong, and Kuwait are next, while the US holds a respectable 10th position with 78 percent coverage.
When the figures are broken down into individual network providers, the UK’s big four experience varying fortunes. The country’s biggest network, EE, holds a respectable mid-table position in terms of 4G coverage, while O2 and Vodafone are close together but a fair way behind EE. Three, meanwhile, is one of the worst networks in the world for 4G coverage according to the report.
Things are a little more positive for the UK on the 4G speed front. The country is in 36th position out of 68 thanks to respectable average LTE download speeds of 13Mbps.
It’s the US that appears to be suffering here, with average 4G network speeds of 10Mbps placing it down in 55th position. The leader, somewhat surprisingly, is New Zealand with 36Mbps.
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OpenSignal collects its data from “hundreds of thousands of OpenSignal users that have LTE-capable phones and connect to operators with live 4G networks.”
This latest report was compiled from such data across three months of the year, spanning from June to August.
Find out how three 4G smartphone titans go in our smartphone grouptest video:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
