3G coverage maps for various UK mobile networks july 2009

bubblesmoney

please note that this document is no longer available when doing searches for the general public on the ofcom website due to some legal issues but is still available via googles cached pages! http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:lXTOfU71-xoJ:www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/broadband/cellular/3g/maps/3gmaps/coverage_maps.pdf+ofcom+3g+coverage+map&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiDWQKBcpVwG2GI4N0v7Q81pATqEioXigXv8SRu3JDEdmFVdQ8aiGFb3p95iKjE-iz4SKuwsUsBgFE5Bw-invmuAfie6DhT3kxQWh6i_eunfhk61_Xvi2VUMUik3IMFQTXJGmMF&sig=AHIEtbQWmHNxuMxb5yGPUsOBzEAgm4aGwA
cached pages as you might know dont breach UK copyright laws from a cursory reading of the UK copyright laws.

anyone interested in knowing the 3g coverage maps, please download the document from the cached webpage as it might not be available to the general public much longer.

here is the direct link got via google cached pages http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/mobile-wireless-broadband/cellular/coverage_maps.pdf download it in case you are interested before it disappears due to intervention by networks with poor coverage. it is just over 600kb file. i didnt get this document even after searching the ofcom webpage directly but got this via the other methods mentioned above.

this will be useful for people with smart phones or those with data dongles as speeds will be much better on 3g connection rather than a 2g connection.

just try the various networks and see if you can even see their total uk 3g coverage map! most will allow only postcode check and wont show any general data or to confuse things they show the 2g coverage maps for an overview of uk coverage.

Read from a newspaper report available online O2 actually in the recent past got some sort of warning due to their awful uk coverage that they were not fulfilling the 3G license conditions and to buckle up and remedy the situation.

please note that .... "Areas where the received signal strength of the primary CPICH (Common Pilot Channel) was calculated to exceed a threshold of -110dBm was used as a proxy for coverage;"

you fully lose the connection at -113dBm and connection is awful at -110dBm in my experience and can drop especially at peak times if the cell zone area contracts dynamically due to load on the cellzone and if you live on the fringes of the 3G zone. and even that -110 dBm figure is for 50% of the time for outside for 50% of the locations. see other small print in the link above.

some like 3 network had 8000 masts in 2008 and 10000 at the beginning of 2010 and they are due to have 12000 by the year end of 2010. orange had 7500 and thats why they lost the ASA case on misrepresentation in advertisements about being the biggest coverage for data etc recently. i think three network initiated the complaint to ASA and they won it as stated on various websites online and some mention on three blog as well.

the coverage maps for 3G masts of the various networks in the UK are :eek: and eye opening and no wonder the various networks have forced ofcom to remove it from easy public access and for some time had even stopped supplying the data to ofcom to update their data on coverage.

ps: the coverage maps data is for december 2008 btw. so will be out of date but is the latest data available in public domain as far as i know as this report was published in july 2009.

jd87

Wow it looks like "3" (H3G) are the best network by a long way then. Seems they're not kidding when they say their network was "built for the mobile Internet". Would have expected better from Vodafone but the prize for worst coverage looks to go to o2. Interesting document, thanks for the link bubblesmoney.

bubblesmoney

i had to do quite a bit of searching and reading through loads of internet posts to get this document. this will be useful for anyone with a smart phone or data dongle and travels a lot and is upgrading their contracts. but please note that this gives the over all UK picture and is not meant to determine the state of the network in a zoomed in area or postcode.

interesting to see the huge gap in coverage for 2g and 3g networks. no wonder most of the networks want this data hidden! pass on the link to this thread to friends as i think this 3g coverage map will benefit everyone.

i couldnt cutpaste the photos for the coverage maps as i havent ever uploaded photos to a public image linking site. hope someone else if interested does that if possible before the document disappears.

MissKeith

This is very interesting indeed. Most customers in my area swear by O2 and don't believe me when I say their network for smart phones and dongles isn't as strong as they think. Bit of proof there then.

O2's in particular is awful, it's a wonder why they got the iPhone as exclusive for so long.

maxtweenie

So later this year, when T-mobile and 3 merge their mast coverage, (the deal was signed before the Orange / T-mobile merger), anyone on 3 or T-mobile should get excellent 3g coverage.

jd87

maxtweenie wrote: »

So later this year, when T-mobile and 3 merge their mast coverage, (the deal was signed before the Orange / T-mobile merger), anyone on 3 or T-mobile should get excellent 3g coverage.

Really? Or is it the case that most of their current coverages overlap anyway so there won't be that much improvement at all...

Snakeeyes21

jd87 wrote: »

Really? Or is it the case that most of their current coverages overlap anyway so there won't be that much improvement at all...

Theres alot of overlapping, T-mobile customers will see the most benefit to the network merger, thats if 3 doesnt give priority to its own customers.........

maxtweenie

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

Theres alot of overlapping, T-mobile customers will see the most benefit to the network merger, thats if 3 doesnt give priority to its own customers.........

Pity we can't overlay the maps and get an idea ourselves. Can the mobile companies give priority to one network over another? I had a 'discussion' on the train with a City of London Police fraud expert who said it wasn't possible and I said it was. Prove me right please!

deano23285

if tmobile do hook up with 3 and orange and use their 3g coverage then i think i'll be sticking with them come renewal.

very shocked at O2's limited area, i always thought they were the best

bubblesmoney

I had discussed the issue of the sharing of masts etc between three and tmobile /orange with three tech support level 1 and 2. what they told me was that there is some agreement for sharing mast sites but not actual networks. where ever the mast sharing networks have extra space at their mast site then the agreement allows them to put their own equipment to cut costs but actual networks are not shared.

also from elsewhere what I gathered was that since three has exclusively a 3g network, in areas where the 3g network is weak they seem to have some agreement to use orange 2g network as a fall back option. think earlier that they had some agreement with O2 but not now. i don't know if other than orange for 2g they have any other roaming provider in the UK.

also if tmobile can throttle data speeds for those on 1gb plan and give faster speeds for 3gb plan etc then why cant all the networks be using throttling selectively. after all dont they all say in their terms and conditions that they can throttle or cut off connection for those exceeding FUPs. data speeds are slower during busy times so i am pretty sure that all the networks have some way of throttling data speeds selectively. even on the usa, it is all over the news that some networks are throttling the speeds for iphone customers, this issue has been covered recently by some of the gadget websites.

bubblesmoney

anyone wanting to see where the masts are located then see these links
Signal strength apps
■Wifi Analyzer: walk around and see a dynamic graph of wifi signal strength. Great for picking the right place to sit in an airport or cafe to get the best wifi signal http://sites.google.com/site/farproc/wifi-analyzer
■Antennas: shows a Google map with nearby antennas on it. Good for monitoring your phone’s signal strength http://www.panix.com/~mpoly/android/antennas/r1.0/ I am using this app presently and it gives you the location of the mast on googlemaps
■RF Signal Tracker (two versions, Donut and Eclair): another app to measure cell phone tower signal strength http://sites.google.com/site/androiddevelopmentproject/home/rf-signal-tracker
these are android apps, there might be similar ones for other systems too. i found the above on matcuts (from google) blog a while ago.

you can also get a lot of similar data if you use some dialer codes for getting into your phones ‘test’ or ‘info’ settings. this is available for most phones except the iphone4 (because apple removed this menu present in most phones since decades for obvious reasons!). google and you will find a way to check various information on this setting. how to get to the dialer codes on htc desire has been mentioned on my HTC Desire antenna thread on MSE forum.

or use handheld signal meters available on the net to check the signal strength if needed

you can use the "RF signals tracker" app. i am trying that out too, that gives the location, lat longitude, cell site id etc.

i am also trying out the “4g, cdma, gsm & wifi map viewer app” from sensorly which is similar as well.

all the apps i mentioned are free and everyone can use them, but make sure you change the settings data uploads to wifi only” so that you dont use data on 3g for uploads. the more the people that use such apps the better will the report you get back from the app for your area.

you can choose to map any networks coverage ! so that you can make informed decisions about coverage in your areas where you use the phones.