London's phone reception hell: Why the capital is lagging behind other major world cities

Mobile phone reception in London is becoming more unreliable, with the capital falling behind other major world cities according to recent data.

According to Ookla, a web service that provides free analysis of Internet access performance metrics, London has plummeted down performance rankings over the past few years.

Of the 149 cities ranked in the Q3 of 2022, the capital ranked 38th.

But in the latest figures from Q2 of 2026, the city has fallen to a lowly 70th - below the likes of Prague, Hanoi and Kharkiv.

The rankings are best on median download speed, median upload speed, and median idle latency, which measures the response time.

Over the past four years, the data shows that London’s speeds have improved, with a median download speeds of 96.08 Mbps compared to 65.42 Mbps, and a media upload speed of 9.96 Mbps compared to 8.99 Mbps.

Many Londoners frequently report failed connections and calls not getting through

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However, the capital is falling comfortably behind the rate of improvement of other cities around the globe.

Mobile UK, the trade association representing the UK's major mobile networks, said London's mobile phone connectivity "continues to lag frustratingly behind other international hubs".

A “perfect storm” of fewer antenna sites caused by housing and other developments, as well as more tall buildings being built in the capital, has resulted in Londoners suffering with poor quality service at times.

Crowded areas, such as near busy Tube and rail stations, are often most affected as the “bottlenecks” are due to capacity shortfalls on the network, while the West End, the City, Westminster, and Tower Hamlets are the parts of the capital seeing the biggest problems.

Many mobile users across London say their service is becoming increasingly unreliable, reporting failed connections and calls not getting through.

Tom Tugendhat said that London’s phone signal was “worse than in Kabul”

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Mobile operators are issued a notice-to-quit and must remove their antennas once a new development receives planning consent, and are given 18 months to find a new site.

However, many have claimed that finding new antenna sites can take two-and-a-half years, possibly up to seven, leaving operators scrambling to find temporary sites just to maintain signal coverage.

Professor Robert Joyce, director of mobile access engineering at O2, told The Standard: “Mobile connectivity is critical to how people live and work.

“But in London essential equipment is being removed faster than it can be replaced with planning rules pummelling mobile coverage in the capital.”

Philip Maguire, founder and CEO of network measurement service Inakalum, told the BBC: "When the areas are busy, very often the networks don't have enough capacity to deal with all the data demands from users, and that's a capacity issue not a signal problem."

He added that most people would have "no chance" finding a reliable connection in the evening after leaving work despite the signal working in the early morning.

Mobile UK said that mobile operators had invested "billions of pounds to upgrade their networks across London" and were committed to working with the government and local councils to improve mobile phone service.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has laid out requirements on developers in the draft London Plan

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Gareth Elliott, director of policy and communications at Mobile UK, said: “Mobile connectivity underpins London’s economic dynamism.

“By bringing developers, local planning authorities, and mobile operators together early, we can turn network disruption into a win-win for urban regeneration.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan has laid out requirements on developers in the draft London Plan.

A spokesperson for the Mayor told The Standard earlier this year: “Reliable mobile connectivity is essential to how Londoners live and work, and the Mayor is committed to improving coverage across the capital.

“His draft London Plan treats mobile connectivity as essential infrastructure and requires it to be considered from the outset of new developments. It also protects existing infrastructure and supports action by boroughs and operators to tackle mobile not-spots and strengthen network resilience.”

A government spokesperson said: "Fast, reliable digital infrastructure is fundamental to a growing economy, keeping people connected wherever they live, work or commute. That's why we are working with industry to deliver our ambition for higher-quality standalone 5G coverage across all populated areas of the UK by 2030.

"We recognise that demand on mobile networks is growing, particularly in busy urban areas, and are reviewing planning rules and working through our Mobile Market Review to support investment, improve network performance and make it quicker and easier to build the infrastructure consumers and businesses need."