UK Mobile Operators Offer Marginal Performance Gain Over MVNOs, Study Finds
A comprehensive performance test found that while major mobile operators offer slightly better speeds and reliability, budget-friendly virtual operators (MVNOs) often provide sufficient performance for most consumers when factoring in price.
The UK's four main mobile operators – Three, O2, Vodafone, and EE – provide only a marginal performance advantage over the cheaper mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that utilize their infrastructure, according to a large-scale test conducted by SignalTracker, a service from PolicyTracker.
The study involved 40,000 tests using the SignalTracker mobile app across urban, suburban, and rural locations in the UK. The tests focused on download speeds (Mbps), comparing network operators (MNOs) with their MVNO counterparts, including Lebara Mobile on Vodafone's network, LycaMobile on EE's, iD Mobile on Three's, and giffgaff on O2's.
Analysis revealed that in most urban and suburban tests, all networks achieved download speeds exceeding 20 Mbps, which is adequate for typical daily usage. The speed difference between MNOs and MVNOs was often less than 10 Mbps, making it unlikely for most consumers to notice a difference. However, Three and O2 demonstrated significantly faster speeds than their associated MVNOs, iD Mobile and giffgaff, which lagged behind.
In terms of reliability, MVNOs experienced a higher rate of failed tests compared to MNOs. For instance, Vodafone's MVNO Lebara showed a considerably higher test failure rate than the parent operator. While MVNOs generally offer better value due to lower prices, the disparities in speed and reliability can be significant in certain pairings.
The report also considered 5G Standalone (5G SA) technology, currently exclusive to the major operators. This technology offers a substantial benefit for demanding applications like streaming, VR/AR, and gaming, advantages that MVNO customers cannot access.