Why is mobile phone signal in London getting worse?

London's mobile phone connectivity "continues to lag frustratingly behind other international hubs" Mobile UK, which represents several network providers, has said.

Its comments come as the latest global rankings for internet speeds showed London had fallen to 91st place, five places lower than last month.

Data commissioned by the BBC England Data Unit found some of the worst areas were Liverpool Street and Covent Garden, where service proved to be extremely slow and unreliable during commuter peak rush hours but worked normally during quiet mornings.

So what impact does this this lack of connectivity have on Londoners and their ability to earn a living and what are the reasons behind it?

Once a development receives planning consent, mobile operators are issued a notice-to-quit (NTQ) to remove their antennas.

They are given an 18-month notice period to find a new site but finding new antenna sites can take an average of two years. Temporary sites also need to be found to maintain signal coverage.

Virgin Media 02 recently called for urgent reform after being "forced" to switch off dozens of mobile sites across London because of new developments.

Robert Joyce , director of mobile access engineering at Virgin Media O2, said: "If we can't find a replacement site before we remove that equipment then we can have a coverage hole in that location."

Operators say that thousands of people can be affected when a site is lost and cannot be replaced.

Mobile UK, which represents EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, added: "Delivering world-class coverage is an uphill battle in a high-density city where development constantly reshapes the skyline."

Network capacity is the total amount of data a network can handle at any given time.

Mobile users can have four or five signal bars but still experience slow uploads, undelivered messages and failed calls when a network is congested.

Network surveyor Philip Maguire, 63, and founder/CEO of Inakalum, said: "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.

Philip surveyed three streets on behalf of the England Data Unit, all within a few minutes' walk of Covent Garden on a weekday evening. He found that more than one in four data tests failed outright for EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

Even when the networks worked, the data speed was found to be unreliable or slow - stuck under 15 Mbps. This meant that many people in the heart of the West End would struggle with basic tasks, such as loading maps or making video calls.

However, tests on the same streets at less busy times found that all four networks performed well, highlighting an issue of congestion rather than coverage.

Adikalie Sumah, from Southwark, runs a shoe cleaning business CureCleans and recently relocated to a new office near London bridge.

The move was designed to create easier access for customers and delivery drivers to drop off and collect their shoes, but he says the mobile signal is so bad he struggles to take calls inside the office.

He uses EE, but the rest of the team use a range of network providers including O2 and Three.

Adikalie said: "When we're trying to contact customers to pick up and drop off their shoe, it's a bit of a struggle trying to get through to them."

Like any business, they take a lot of phone calls for scheduling shifts, making orders and organising deliveries but the poor service makes this difficult.

At the moment, he manages this problem by taking phone calls outside the office and leaves all the doors and windows open to improve the signal but said this has meant they sometimes get complaints from the neighbours.

He added that with winter approaching and the noise complaints taking calls outside the office would no longer be an option.

He contacted his landlord about the issue but was told nothing could be done to improve it.

Adikalie mainly subcontracts young people across Southwark helping them to gain work experience.

He hopes to keep offering these opportunities but worries poor mobile service could hold the company back.

Joshua Folorunsho, 22, from Peckham is a full-time content creator and employee at CureCleans.

He is known as JTA across his social media platforms and creates content for the company.

"Obviously this is my livelihood so without it I'm not able to eat and put clothes on my back, so it's very important to me."

Joshua has been with Three since he was 15 but said: "Sometimes when I call people it doesn't even ring, but I have service."

He said he struggles to find a reliable mobile signal when travelling across central London unless he's "lucky".

Joshua said he contacted a Three store in his local area but was told there was nothing they could do, and that they also had poor mobile service.

Victoria Olaofe, 24, from Bermondsey works as a sales representative near St Pauls, and her poor mobile service means that she misses out on pay.

"There have been occasions where my manager has tried to contact me, but I simply haven't received the calls or messages until much later. It's even affected things like clocking in on my phone."

Victoria gets paid by the hour and needs to clock into work using her phone, but her mobile data becomes unusable once she's in central London. This means she cannot clock in until hours later.

She said there does not seem to be any solution so she just loses pay.

"I've also tried troubleshooting the issue. My mum even contacted Three after experiencing poor coverage in her area, and although my experience isn't identical to hers, it made me realise there may be a wider issue."

In response to a social media call out, Victoria said: "I realised I'm clearly not the only person experiencing this.

"It was reassuring to see that others are reporting similar issues, although it's concerning that so many people seem to be affected."

Experts say capacity shortfalls during busy times, housing development and planning regulations are partly to blame, with rules varying across London's 33 councils - creating more challenges for network providers.

A spokesperson for London Councils, which represents all the local authorities in the capital, said: "The London Growth Plan and London Infrastructure Framework we developed jointly with the mayor highlight the importance of digital infrastructure and mobile connectivity.

"There is a range of factors behind the current connectivity problems, but boroughs take this issue seriously and are working with network providers and other partners to help resolve them," they added.

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

The organisation also said it recognised that the Draft London Plan acknowledged the challenge of housing development for mobile operators in London but it wants urgent policy reform on planning and a "unified framework that treats digital infrastructure as a priority".

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been asked for comment.

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