I get the feeling that my fellow Brits just accept the current status of mobile network coverage as normal. It’s not.

Any British expat who lives in a western country and comes back will be shocked. In fact, any Brit living here only needs to travel abroad on a short trip to realise how bad our coverage is.

I’ve been out of the country 17 years and I really don’t think it has advanced much. Even in London, I found regular black spots or areas that drop down to 3G. Sheffield is even worse. Once you leave the cities, it gets worse still. I’m in a village not far from Chesterfield and I’ve had to switch providers in an effort to get half-decent speeds and coverage.

The UK is in the process of decommissioning its 3G mobile networks, their goal being to shut down 3G so that they can move resources to improving 4G and 5G. EE and Vodafone have already completed the shutdown. Three plan to have theirs completed by the end of the year. O2 intends to begin the process in 2025.

My observations has been when 5G isn’t available, my phone switches to 3G, not 4G, indicating that 4G coverage is also lacking. A lot of the time I’m switched on to 2G. 2G is passable for making voice calls but useless for handling today’s apps and websites.

My experience is purely anecdotal. I haven’t studied the network coverage maps, but in 2024, I didn’t think I would need to.

I notice that Elon Musk’s Starlink is already doing deals with the major telcos to add Starlink satellite coverage. This could be a game changer if the UK telcos get onboard, at least for outside coverage. Of course, Starlink satellite is no good indoors, unless you have a receiver. Then again, allowing a nutty billionaire to control the majority of the world’s commercial satellite coverage presents its own problems.

How long will it be before we see a vast improvement to 4G and 5G coverage? Judging by the last 17 years, much longer than the telcos say, that’s my bet.

Britain has a lot of old pubs where mobile reception doesn’t penetrate the thick walls. 5G is much better at penetrating walls, as long as there’s a 5G tower/base station/cell, etc. in range. In this case, I don’t mind in the least - pubs are a great place for switching off.

Everywhere else - come on! The UK is not a large country. It shouldn’t be this way.