South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority Publishes Mobile Network Measurement Results

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On 12 November, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority in the United Kingdom published the latest results of its regional mobile network mapping. From January to August 2026, the authority carried out a second round of field testing with mobile network analytics firm Streetwave, using bin collection vehicles equipped with monitoring devices to collect mobile communications data across four areas: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The testing covered the four major mobile network operators in the UK, focusing on signal strength, download and upload speeds, and network latency along roads.

The second round of testing showed that among road test points meeting the good network performance standard, EE accounted for 88%, Vodafone 82%, Three 73% and O2 69%. The proportion of roads where all four operators simultaneously met the good performance standard was 53%, while close to 6% of tested roads had no operator meeting that standard. Good performance is defined as download speeds of at least 5Mbps, upload speeds of at least 1.5Mbps and network latency below 100 milliseconds. The basic performance standard is download speeds of at least 1Mbps, upload speeds of at least 0.5Mbps and latency below 200 milliseconds.

The mapping equipment was provided by Streetwave and installed on local government bin collection vehicles, moving along daily refuse collection routes and continuously collecting data. The vehicles carry multiple smartphones with dedicated testing software to simultaneously test the networks of the four operators. Testing intervals are adjusted according to the road environment, with data collected approximately every 5 metres on urban roads and every 20 metres on rural roads. The metrics collected include actual data transmission speeds, signal strength, network technology and frequency band information, enabling mobile network performance data to be refined down to individual roads and specific locations.

The project was initially launched in 2025 by the Digital Infrastructure Team of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority in partnership with Streetwave, covering the four local authority areas mentioned above. The first round of mapping was carried out from July to December 2025, after which a free online map and postcode lookup tool were established, allowing residents and businesses to view the network performance of EE, O2, Three and Vodafone at their location and compare signal quality across operators. The second round of testing, conducted from January to August 2026, was used to update the regional network data.

The latest mapping results will be used to identify areas with weak mobile communications signals, provide empirical evidence for the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's engagement with operators on network improvements, and support local planning authorities in assessing the need for new communications base stations and related infrastructure.