Liverpool has worst mobile blackspots

Four in 10 people have trouble using their mobile phone at home and have to wander round the house in search of a signal.

Liverpudlians have the hardest time of it, with 60% having some sort of mobile blackspot in their home, followed by people in Cardiff and Bristol.

Kitchens tend to be the worst dead spot - although as network testing company Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) points out, this does at least make for civilized family dinners. But lovers of Georgian architecture should beware, as such houses join those built in the noughties as having the worst connectivity.

"The UK is no longer a 'fixed line' nation. When we're at home we don't just receive calls on our mobiles – we make them too," says Paul Carter, CEO of GWS.

"The best phone is the one you've got on you – not the one sitting in its dock out in the hallway. But that presents a problem for operators – many of whom are clearly struggling with the brave new world of 'in-home mobility'".

In detailed tests carried out in London, more than a third of homes contained a blackspot. The worst voice networks were EE and 3, with one in every 14 test calls using devices locked to the EE network failing indoors. In contrast, O2 and Vodafone dropped less than 1% of calls.

The problem's particularly acute with the latest 4G networks. For example, while 3 gave a signal 78% of the time outside properties, it was only 55% of the time inside. Meanwhile, EE had good coverage almost 100% of the time outdoors, but only 85% of the time inside the home.

O2 came top in the tests, with a signal 90% of the time inside Londoners' homes. Vodafone was next best at 87%.

And those with a choice are voting with their feet, says GWS. A quarter of those it polled said that mobile data connectivity issues had 'definitely contributed' to their decision to switch operators in the past – while more than 1 in 7 said the same about voice calling blackspots.

"Our data is clear: in-home mobile data blackspots drive subscribers to ditch and switch their service provider," says Carter.

"That's why operators need to move quickly and decisively to demonstrate the level of service they're actually providing to Brits - with robust, understandable data that turns their in-home wireless data performance into a selling point, rather than a liability."

City %of respondents reporting mobile blackspots
1. Liverpool 60%
2. Cardiff 54%
3. Bristol 53%
4. Norwic 48%
5. Glasgow 46%
6= Leicester 46%
6= Birmingham 46%
8. Coventry 44%
9 Edinburgh 44%
10. Manchester 43%

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