Ofcom regularly carries out mobile drive testing to improve our understanding of mobile coverage in the UK. It also helps us make sure that mobile network operators' predictions are accurate across different regions and terrains.
We have been compiling the 4G- and 5G-specific signal strength measurement data that our spectrum assurance vehicles capture along roads across the United Kingdom.
Under our open data policy, we are releasing the data we have collected since Summer 2020. This is on a trial basis, so that the policymakers and other interested parties can use the information.
Alongside the data, we have published a map showing the routes our vehicles have taken – in other words, the locations for which data is available. We have also published our methodology (PDF, 762.2 KB) and an explanation of how the data could be used (PDF, 530.7 KB).
Please let us know if you find this data useful by contacting us at drivetestingdata@ofcom.org.uk. We will use your feedback to decide whether or not to publish more data in future.
The data shows the mobile signal strengths collected for 4G and 5G technologies, for each operator, on different roads across the United Kingdom.
Typically, the measurements are taken as our vehicles carry out their day-to-day business, for example when they are out on call investigating spectrum interference cases.
We do this work to help inform our policy making in relation to mobile coverage. For example, it supports our work assessing the extent to which predicted coverage by operators’ planning models reflect actual on the ground signals.
No, we are releasing data we have collected since summer 2020 for 4G and 5G technologies, for all operators. We plan to continue this work and to release updated data. The data we are sharing may not be complete for certain months – this is where we have tasked the vehicles to carry out other work which is out of scope of this data. In addition, only limited data was collected during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
We are releasing this information on a trial basis from November 2021. We will update the information periodically as we collect further data from our vehicles.
This data reflects on the ground 4G and 5G signals at a particular point in time and space e.g. the precise path a crossed by a vehicle. It is not directly comparable with the mobile network operators’ coverage predictions, as these provide an average signal strength across a 100m x 100m area.