According to new research from Ookla, the capital ranks lowest among major UK cities for 5G download speeds and network consistency, with Londoners spending more time in mobile signal not-spots than residents elsewhere.
In Q1 2025, London and Belfast recorded the weakest 5G download speeds in the UK, averaging just 115 Mbps—far behind Glasgow, which led with a median download speed of 185 Mbps.
London also posted the lowest 5G consistency score of all major UK cities, meaning fewer mobile users in the capital can rely on stable, high-speed connections for everyday activities like browsing, video streaming, and gaming.
“London’s underperformance makes the UK an outlier in Western Europe, where it is highly unusual for the capital to be the primary laggard,” said a Luke Kehoe, industry analyst, Europe at Ookla.
The findings highlight growing frustration among Londoners, who regularly struggle with poor mobile coverage indoors, underground, and in busy areas. W
hile efforts have been made to roll out coverage on the London Underground and densify networks with small cells, challenges remain—particularly in deep urban environments with dense building materials and limited access to rooftop sites.
According to Ookla’s analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data, just 0.7% of London users spent most of their time in complete not-spots (areas with no signal) in early 2025—a notable improvement from 3.7% two years earlier.
However, this still ranks higher than other UK cities, underscoring lingering coverage black holes across the capital.
The rollout of 5G has also been hindered by policy decisions dating back to 2017. Reforms to the Electronics Communications Code aimed at making it cheaper and faster for operators to access land ended up sparking thousands of legal disputes, particularly in cities like London where rooftop access is critical.
“Instead of accelerating 5G deployment, these reforms created uncertainty, delayed site upgrades, and discouraged landlords from hosting mobile equipment,” Kehoe noted.
“In some cases, rental income was slashed by up to 90%, making rooftop space far more appealing for solar panels or rooftop bars than for antennas.”
Glasgow, meanwhile, has emerged as a national leader in 5G performance, a feat attributed not only to lower urban density but also to proactive local government support.
The city was among the first in Europe to establish a dedicated Telecoms Unit, which streamlined planning and site access for mobile infrastructure.
As the UK’s 3G networks are phased out, more users in urban areas are falling back to slower 2G connections when 4G and 5G coverage is patchy. This fallback has been increasingly common in cities like Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham.
“The UK’s telecom environment has become more challenging in recent years,” said Kehoe.
“But unless structural and regulatory barriers are addressed, cities like London risk falling further behind—not just in domestic terms, but on the global stage.”
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