EE named UK’s best mobile network… again!

EE has been named the UK’s best mobile network for a record-breaking tenth consecutive year, following independent testing and analysis of the consumer mobile experience by RootMetrics.

To provide a robust and definitive picture of the performance of the UK’s mobile networks, RootMetrics conducted 538,780 tests across every region of the country in the last six months, including every major city and more than 24,000 miles of roadways. These tests were designed to examine the mobile network experience in real-life situations in a variety of locations and scenarios.

A perfect ten

As well as being named best overall mobile network in the UK for the tenth year in a row, EE also won every UK-wide performance award, being named the best mobile network for reliability, accessibility, speed, data, calls and texts.

When it comes to mobile performance in each individual UK nation, EE also came out on top; being awarded best overall network in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Marc Allera, CEO of EE, said: “The quality and reliability of mobile networks are now more important, to more people, than ever before. To have been the UK’s number one mobile network for a whole decade is testament to our approach of always putting network quality at the heart of our customer experience. We are at the start of a new chapter in the mobile industry, one which will see the new generation of EE evolve and provide more than just the connectivity we are famous for. It’s fantastic to have the solid foundation of being the UK’s best mobile network for ten consecutive years on which to build our exciting future.”

The speeds you need

EE’s UK-wide median download speed (65.1Mbps) was found to be nearly twice as fast as any other operator and 400% faster than Virgin Media 02, cementing EE’s place as the network of choice for mobile gamers and video streamers. Three (34.7Mbps), Vodafone (29.4Mbps) and Virgin Media 02 (15.5Mbps) were all significantly slower.

In each of the 16 major cities covered under the RootMetrics testing, EE had the fastest median download speed and achieved the top speed of any operator (127.2Mbps in Birmingham). Its 5G network delivered download speeds above 100Mbps in 15 of these cities and EE was also the only operator to achieve median download speeds above 50Mbps in every city, emphasising the consistency and reliability of its network performance across the UK.

Investing in innovation

That consistency has been boosted by the rapid expansion of EE’s 4G and 5G networks. Since 2013, more than 60,000 square miles of additional 4G coverage has been added throughout the UK, alongside the installation of 1,350 new mobile masts – which is the equivalent of one new mast every three days for the past decade.

These masts are connecting people and businesses and helping both urban and rural communities thrive.  EE has already upgraded more than 1,400 more rural locations than all other operators combined under the Shared Rural Network (SRN), based on the latest available figures, and is continuing to expand the reach and reliability of its network with cutting-edge technologies, including small cells and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

Having invested more than £2 billion pounds in spectrum since 2013, EE has created the UK’s largest and most reliable mobile network. With its 5G connectivity now available to more than 70% of the UK population, EE is on track to make a 5G solution possible anywhere in the UK by 2028.