United Kingdom coverage

What the United Kingdom numbers mean

Two numbers matter and only one of them is the one every seller quotes. The typical speed, 67 Mbps, tells you what a good moment looks like.

The tenth percentile, 17 Mbps, is the one that matters. It is the speed in the worst tenth of the day, when the cell above the station is full and everybody around you is on it too. A country with a high median and a low floor is a country that works beautifully right up until the moment you actually need it.

If the trip depends on video calls or tethering, plan around the busy figure rather than the typical one.

What happens in United Kingdom when the network is busy

Congestion is not a fault, it is a Tuesday evening. The question is what your eSIM can do about it, and for most travel eSIMs the answer is nothing: one wholesale agreement per country, one network, and no way out except buying a second eSIM from somebody else while standing in the street.

Here, Orbislo traffic runs over EE and Three. When the network you are on degrades we move you to another one, mid trip, without you asking, and tell you afterwards rather than interrupting you at the time.

Mobile operators in United Kingdom

• VodafoneThree: Vodafone UK and Three UK merged on 31 May 2025 as VodafoneThree, 51 percent owned by Vodafone and 49 percent by CK Hutchison, with a pledge to invest 11 billion pounds over ten years in a 5G standalone network.
• VodafoneThree: VodafoneThree says its 4G reaches over 99 percent of the UK population and has committed to 5G standalone coverage of 99 percent of the population by 2030 and 99.96 percent by 2034.
• Virgin Media O2: Virgin Media O2 launched O2 Satellite, the first direct-to-device satellite service from a UK network, in 2026, and says it took its landmass coverage to 95 percent. Its network also carries giffgaff, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile customers.
• EE: EE's 5G+ network, its most advanced tier, reached more than 44 million people by November 2025. It is offered on EE pay monthly handset plans and selected SIM-only plans rather than to every connection.

Older networks in United Kingdom

• EE switched off its final 3G site, in Belfast, in February 2024, ending more than 20 years of 3G on its network.
• Vodafone UK completed its 3G switch-off across the country in February 2024 and is reusing the last 3G frequencies to strengthen its 4G and 5G service.
• On O2, a 3G-only phone keeps calls and texts once 3G is withdrawn in its area but loses mobile data. O2 said 3G carried less than 2 percent of the data on its network before the switch-off.
• Three switched off 3G completely in November 2025, so its network carries calls only over 4G Calling, also called VoLTE. A 4G phone without it can still text and use data on Three but cannot make or receive calls, and a 3G-only phone cannot connect at all.
• 2G closes next. EE begins closing its 2G network from May 2029, and at that point 2G and 3G phones, and 4G phones without 4G Calling, lose service on EE completely.
• Virgin Media O2, which completed its 3G switch-off at the end of 2025, starts switching off 2G in summer 2029. 2G carries less than 0.5 percent of data on its network but accounts for more than 10 percent of its cell site energy use.
• VodafoneThree switches off the Vodafone 2G network in spring 2030, and some areas may lose it earlier as a test. Three never had a 2G network, having launched in 2003 as a 3G-only operator.
• Under a government charter, operators must announce a 2G switch-off date at least three years ahead and confirm reliable 4G or 5G coverage before closing 2G anywhere, keeping access to emergency services.
• Once every operator has closed 2G, the technology will be unavailable to everyone in the UK, visitors included, so a visiting phone that relies on 2G will find no 2G network to use.

5G in United Kingdom

• Ofcom's 2021 auction of 700 MHz and 3.6 to 3.8 GHz spectrum raised 1.379 billion pounds. EE won 3,680 to 3,720 MHz plus 700 MHz blocks, O2 won 3,760 to 3,800 MHz plus 700 MHz, Vodafone won 3,720 to 3,760 MHz, and Three won 700 MHz only.

Network notes for United Kingdom

• The Shared Rural Network, a deal between government and the four operators, met its main target a year early: more than 95 percent of the UK is now within range of a 4G signal.
• Gaps remain in the Scottish Highlands. Parts of the West Highland Way and the Munros Ben Lawers and Ben Vorlich have no 4G from any operator, and new masts are planned for Glen Coe, Wester Ross, Mull, South Uist and Skye.