UK Ranks a Lowly 54 in the World for Mobile Coverage

[engine]

It's no surprise to read that the UK is way down that list for mobile data coverage. Anyone that travels around the UK is well aware of the poor coverage.

[bbc.co.uk...]

[piatkow]

54th for 4G? I would be happy to get 3G where I live.

I can get a better phone signal on top of a mountain in the Brecon Beacons than I can in a commuter village in the Home Counties.

[keyplyr]

There's some vague data in that article. It doesn't list USA in that list and also it says;

A 5G standard does not yet exist, but the technology is expected to surpass 4G to provide faster data uploads and downloads when it is deployed, some time after 2020.

Not true. There may or may not be a "standard" decided by all the players yet, but Qualcomm (a mile from me) is already selling 5k modems. While the mobile devices aren't out yet, they should be a lot sooner than 2020 .

[engine]

@piatkow i'm in the same boat here. 3G is very spotty where I live, and non existent inside.
I travel quite a bit in the UK and confirm it's really quite difficult to get reliable signals away from towns and cities. In fact, you don't have to go far for the signal to have become 2G.

You're right, the technology is there, keyplyr, but the standard has not yet been agreed/ratified.

The problem then is that the investment required in the infrastructure will be inadequate, and many will never get the speeds the towns and cities are used to, just as 4G is remains a dream for many.