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UK mobile users will have the least reliable experience on average of any G7 country in 2024, according to data which highlights the impact of poor consumer performance.

Britain scored 859 points on a scale for the mobile reliability experience between July 1 and September 28 in a study by research company Opensignal, with Italy at 861 and Japan in first place at 925.

the UK lagging behind peer countries in high-speed fifth-generation mobile phone networks in part due to disruption caused by a government ban on equipment from the Chinese company Huawei.

Experts also blame the lack of reliability on low investment and delays in planning permission for telecoms towers.

Britain ranks last among members of the G7 group of advanced economies for mobile reliability experience on a 100-1,000 point scale. It measures the ability of mobile users tracked by Opensignal to connect and successfully complete basic tasks in mobile networks and covers all generations of mobile networks from 2G to 5G.

Kester Mann, director of consumer and communications at research group CCS Insight, said the UK’s poor performance reflected “a lack of investment in the industry, the replacement of Huawei’s infrastructure, planning issues on a regular basis.” and increase in demand”.

Sam Fenwick, principal analyst at Opensignal, pointed to similar reasons for the UK ranking, including a lack of investment in mobile networks and Huawei kit replacement programs diverting “some of the operators’ focus and capital expenditure from network rollouts”.

He also cited the difficulty of getting planning permission for the masts, which was “made worse by nimbyism and the public’s lack of knowledge of what modern mobile infrastructure looks like”.

Among the UK regions, users in Yorkshire and the Humber had the most reliable mobile experience on average between July 1 and September 28 while users in Wales suffered the worst.

Fenwick said the findings had implications for digital inclusion, saying it was “important that disadvantaged areas of the UK are not left behind”.

Trade association Mobile UK said mobile network operators are committed to delivering modern 5G networks and are investing billions of pounds each year.

“Decisive action from the government, such as streamlining the planning process, prioritizing national infrastructure goals, ensuring that spectrum is cheaper and creating a supportive regulatory environment” will boost the impact investment and help support the country’s digital future, it added.

As part of the approved merger between Vodafone’s domestic operations and CK Hutchison’s Three UK, the £11bn commitment to upgrade the companies’ network will be overseen by UK communications regulator Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority, the antitrust watch dog.

British mobile users were also hit by the slowest average 5G download speed of any G7 country by 2023, according to the research.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “Access to fast and reliable mobile and broadband coverage is essential to deliver the change our country needs to thrive.”

Ministers are on a “mission to deliver full gigabit and standalone 5G coverage to all populated areas of the UK by 2030 by removing barriers to planning in a way that is responsive to local communities and ensuring that our networks are safe from foreign interference by hostile actors”, it added.