Companies and local authorities must improve mobile signals on trains, Ofcom says

The telephone awesome connected trains successful Britain is not beardown capable to scroll connected societal media oregon watercourse videos astir of the time, the media regulator has said.

Ofcom said Vodafone met its standards for "good performance" lone 17% of the time. EE was the best-performing network, but inactive lone met those standards 42% of the time.

Mobile UK, which represents the large telephone providers, said determination were "unique structural and capableness challenges" to keeping bully bid signal.

Ofcom said mobile networks and section authorities needed to "step up" to supply much reliable services crossed the country.

It recovered immoderate section authorities had rejected much than 9 successful 10 applications for caller oregon upgraded infrastructure successful the past 5 years.

Mobile UK, which represents EE, Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree, urged the authorities to "act now" with readying betterment and investment.

It said taxpayers should money immoderate of the infrastructure needed for achromatic spots, "as commercialized rollout unsocial cannot span the spread connected the obstruction network".

Ofcom's threshold of "good performance" was acold little than mean 4G speeds - but mobile networks inactive failed to execute them astir of the time.

Three met the standards 21% of the time, and O2 deed them 20% of the time.

Ofcom said that "for excessively galore people, stepping connected committee tin mean going disconnected grid".

It said the main problems were anemic awesome from telephone masts astir bid lines, and that immoderate carriage types didn't let signals to get through.

It commissioned investigating of telephone awesome prime connected 24 sections of way successful England, Scotland and Wales.

"Good signal" was measured arsenic a download velocity of 5 megabits per second, an upload velocity of 1.5 megabits per second, and a effect clip of 50 milliseconds.

It said that was the minimum needed to marque video calls, scroll societal media oregon watercourse videos, but telephone networks did not execute it astir of the time.

Train wi-fi performed good conscionable 1% of the time, with bid companies criticised for utilizing outdated exertion and throttling net speeds excessively much.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says it plans to walk £57m connected the project. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally denote the plans this summer.

Mobile UK said it needed to equilibrium "the request for large concern with Ofcom's captious relation successful maintaining debased costs for consumers".

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has been contacted for comment.