Birmingham Ranked Fastest City for Mobile Data

Mobile phone and mobile broadband users in Birmingham enjoy the fastest average data speeds in the UK, according to a new survey.

3G and 4G mobile speeds in the city averaged 28.9 Mbps—just 7 Mbps slower than the typical lower tier of fibre home broadband. Birmingham’s mobile speeds put it at the top of a league table published by RootMetric, based on analyses of networks in 16 UK cities in the second half of 2019.

Birmingham mobile users have also seen a significant uptick in speeds over the last year. Mobile speeds in the city averaged just 24.7Mbps in the first half of 2019.

But not all networks are created equal. While EE’s mobile broadband delivers speeds of 51.6 Mbps in Birmingham and Vodafone’s clocks in a respectable 38.4 Mbps, Three and O2’s networks drag down the average. Choose O2 for mobile broadband in Birmingham and you’ll see speeds of just 10.4 Mbps, comparable to ADSL broadband. Three’s network fared little better in the city, averaging just 15.1 Mbps.

RootMetric previously named EE the UK’s fastest network for 4G and 3G, with average speeds across the country of 36.5Mbps. Vodafone came in a distant second, with national average speeds of 19.8Mbps, while O2 and Three lagged significant behind, at 12.5Mbps and 11.7Mbps, respectively.

Other cities where mobile networks zip along include Liverpool (average speeds of 28.8 Mbps), Manchester and Glasgow (both 26.7 Mbps).

Speeds are not up to scratch in Newcastle (20.1 Mbps), Sheffield (20.7 Mbps) and Leeds and Bradford (also 20.7 Mbps).

RootMetric conducted the analyses using a batch of Samsung Galaxy S9, purchased off the shelf from operator stores. The devices were used to record speeds in 16 cities, both day and night and walking and driving. Altogether, 593,343 tests were conducted, including in 811 indoor locations and 750 different places.

However, because the Samsung Galaxy S9s used are only capable of connecting to 4G and 3G networks, emergent and much faster 5G networks in those cities weren’t included in the analysis. A survey from Ookla in the autumn found that the UK’s then-active 5G networks, from EE, Vodafone and O2, deliver average speeds of 176 Mbps.

But even as 5G networks are switched on in city centres, many rural UK locations struggle to connect to 4G. That’s changing, however. This week the four mobile networks signed an agreement to support the creation of a Shared Rural Network, which will extend geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by 2025.

Fastest Cities for Mobile Data

1. Birmingham (28.9 Mbps)
2. Liverpool (28.8 Mbps) 
3. Manchester (26.7 Mbps)
4. Glasgow (26.7 Mbps)
5. Coventry (25.3 Mbps)
6. Bristol (25.2 Mbps)
7. Edinburgh (24.6 Mbps)
8. Hull (24.5 Mbps)
9. London (24.1 Mbps)
10. Nottingham (23.6 Mbps)
11. Leicester (23.2 Mbps)
12. Cardiff (21.7 Mbps)
13. Belfast (21.6 Mbps)
14. Leeds and Bradford (20.7 Mbps)
15. Sheffield (20.7 Mbps)
16. Newcastle (20.1 Mbps)