Like many modern industries, retail and e-commerce have taken full advantage of the internet to bring their products to more people than ever before. However, as online services continue to develop, these businesses rely on customers having speedy, readily available internet access. That includes mobile, which has overtaken desktops for online browsing.

Now a new independent analysis has identified the best supplier of 5G in the United Kingdom.

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The Importance of 5G in the Future

Since 2019, world governments and private businesses have invested billions to make 5G accessible for everybody. The new wireless standard promises a lot of things, including increased support for emerging technologies like smart homes and artificial intelligence. Of course, its main benefit is faster internet speeds than 4G. Depending on external factors, 5G is ten to hundred times faster than 4G.

The push for 5G is crucial for retail because so many products and services are marketed on mobile devices today. More generally, the internet houses a lot of services in retail but also in entertainment like streaming and iGaming. In those instances, users watch movies online or find bingo games to play on a casino website, both facilitated by the internet. While the modern internet is adequate for today’s services, the internet needs to get faster to accommodate growth in these industries and more data-intensive activities online.

In retail, the loading speed of an online page can mean the difference between a sale or a bounced customer. This is especially true for mobile, where users may be on the go or otherwise pressed for time. Now that 5G adoption has begun in earnest, service providers in Britain and beyond are battling to offer the fastest mobile internet. That leads us to the latest independent analysis of the UK’s biggest providers of 5G.

 

RootMetrics’ 5G Analysis

RootMetrics is a US-based analytics firm that gathers data about mobile network performance, which is then presented to the public. They’re a subsidiary of Speedtest by Ookla, a free service widely used by consumers all around the world to test their broadband speeds. Over the last six months, RootMetrics has performed tests that span 16 UK cities, 22,000 miles of roads and 625,000 data points to discover who the best 5G provider is. The tests covered the first half of 2024, with more data to follow once the second half concludes.

These tests focused on the big four mobile operators in Britain, those being Three, O2, Vodafone and EE. For 5G, RootMetrics graded each on network availability and the quality of the service itself. Some 5G infrastructure isn’t in place yet, so there are gaps where one provider may offer 5G in your city, while another may not.

According to their analysis, EE topped in all of RootMetrics’ described categories, including 5G availability and performance. Three closely followed in second place for most categories, then O2 and Vodafone behind them. You can read their analysis in full here. Responding to the findings, EE revealed that its networks could cover 78% of the population, up 8.5% over the last six months. As for download speeds, EE’s service was 50% ahead of Three in second place.

These new accolades are only part of the story, as network expansions continue for the big four. Independent of one another, each of them has made goals to establish 100% 5G coverage before 2030. For EE, they predict this will happen as soon as 2028. When that happens, a new standard will be set for mobile internet connections in Britain, to the benefit of all online business.