4G tests reveal patchy urban coverage

The first large-scale test of EE’s new 4G network has indicated less than half of Manchester city centre is able to take advantage of its high speeds. Data collected by mobile coverage firm RootMetrics and shared exclusively with the BBC reveals just 40.2% of its test locations had access to the 4G network.
 
Outside the city centre there was no 4G coverage, according to the tests. RootMetrics also found 4G provided much faster speeds indoors, something EE’s rivals had questioned when it launched.
 
In test locations that had access 4G, users were getting speeds averaging 17Mbps (megabits per second), according to the survey. Across all test locations, including those where 4G was unavailable, EE averaged download speeds of 7.6Mbps.
 
That is still double the average speed of the next fastest operator in the area – Vodafone – which recorded average download speeds of 3.1Mbps in previous tests.
 
It means that, for example, downloading a song would take less than 15-25 seconds compared with the minute or so it would take on a typical 3G network.