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One-third of mobile users receive patchy to no indoor coverage

WHAT? NAH, YOU'RE BREAKING UP

Nearly one-third of mobile users suffer poor or no indoor reception at home, according to a survey by price comparison site uSwitch.

One in every five mobile calls made at home are patchy – where the voice cuts in and out – while one in six are prone to cutting out suddenly.

Not surprisingly, those living in rural areas continue to be hardest hit with half of mobile users reporting signal issues at home.

Bristol is the worst region for indoor mobile reception (39 per cent), followed by Cardiff (35 per cent), Norwich (35 per cent), Plymouth (33 per cnet) and Sheffield (33 per cent). Three in 10 Londoners report poor or partial indoor mobile reception.

O2 customers are most happy with their signal, while Three and EE customers are the least impressed, the survey of 2,002 folk found.

uSwitch is calling on Ofcom to force mobile providers to make network coverage data more easily accessible to consumers earlier in the purchasing process.

Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at uSwitch.com, said customers should check coverage maps online before joining a new network.

"With many consumers not knowing such maps exist, it would make a great deal of sense to have this data available much earlier in the purchasing journey – such as at the point for comparison. This swift fix could prevent more consumers losing out by overlooking providers that could better serve their area."

The chairman of the national infrastructure commission, Lord Adonis, recently called mobile phone coverage in Blighty "deplorable". His recent report into the UK's infrastructure found we are "behind other countries in its 4G mobile coverage, and it needs a plan to become a world leader in 5G and ultrafast broadband". ®

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