Mobile Matters
Smartphones and mobile connectivity are an essential part of daily life for millions of people across the UK. To better understand how people are using mobile services, and the experience they receive, Ofcom has analysed crowdsourced data collected between January and March 2021 from around 280,000 Android devices across the UK.
In this report, we focus on the share of connections across wireless network technologies (2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, wi-fi), the success rate for mobile connections, the response times for different mobile technologies and how people in the panel use voice and data services. We also look at how these vary by network operator and location.
2021 report
Annex 1: Technical methodology (PDF, 196.3 KB)
Annex 2: Statistical methodology (PDF, 199.3 KB)
The maps below are interactive versions of the static maps in the written report.
Connection test success percentage
Connection test success percentage for the United Kingdom over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Belfast over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Birmingham over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Bradford over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Brighton and Hove over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Bristol over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Cardiff over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Coventry over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Derby over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Edinburgh over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Glasgow over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Kingston upon Hull over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Leeds over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Leicester over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Liverpool over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for London over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Manchester over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Newcastle over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Nottingham over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Sheffield over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Southampton over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Stoke-on-Trent over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Connection test success percentage for Swansea over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency
Median connection latency for the United Kingdom over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Belfast over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Birmingham over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Bradford over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Brighton and Hove over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Bristol over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Cardiff over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Coventry over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Derby over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Edinburgh over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Glasgow over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Kingston upon Hull over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Leeds over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Leicester over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Liverpool over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for London over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Manchester over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Newcastle over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Nottingham over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Sheffield over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Southampton over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Stoke-on-Trent over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Median connection latency for Swansea over the period 1 January - 31 March 2021
Previous reports
Mobile matters: researching people’s experience of using Android mobile services (PDF, 3.7 MB)
Materion symudol: ymchwilio i brofiad pobl o ddefnyddio gwasanaethau symudol Android (PDF, 474.8 KB)
Annex 1: Technical methodology (PDF, 158.8 KB)
Annex 2: Statistical methodology (PDF, 485.5 KB)
Interactive maps
The maps below are interactive versions of the static maps in the written report. They show the variation in the response time and success rate for 4G mobile connections across the UK, as well as changes in how and where people were connecting to wireless networks during the early stages of the coronavirus lockdown.
Median latency during 1 January 2020 - 22 March 2020 for various technologies
Connection test success percentage on 4G during 1 January 2020 - 22 March 2020
Percentage change of mobile connection tests in Belfast between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020
Percentage change of Wi-Fi connection tests in Belfast between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020
Percentage change of mobile connection tests in Cardiff between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020
Percentage change of Wi-Fi connection tests in Cardiff between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020
Percentage change of mobile connection tests in London between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020
Percentage change of Wi-Fi connection tests in London between various weeks and 13-19 January 2020