O2 and Vodafone mobile broadband on top

O2 mobile broadband customers benefit from the UK’s fastest connection speeds whilst Vodafone mobile broadband comes out on top for web browsing.

Siroda, a research company which specialises in measuring network’s performances, assessed the major UK mobile broadband suppliers’ (O2, Vodafone, Orange, 3 and T-Mobile) networks.

The tests, conducted over a 60 day period across 150 UK locations, measured mobile data connection speed at peak periods throughout the day. Cities covered included London, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield.

For downloading a music track, O2 was shown to be the fastest operator on average in the UK. It achieved the fastest music download rate in 12 out of 20 UK key cities and was second place in a further four more.

Derek McManus, Chief Technology Officer, O2 commented: “We’re very pleased with these conclusive findings, which have been independently verified. Our London customers are now seeing the benefits of the investment we made before Christmas, where we spent £30m delivering 40 new sites.

Outside London, where network quality is shown to be strong, we continue to scale our investment and have committed to deliver a further 1500 new sites by the end of this year, building ahead of the demand for data services.”

Vodafone came out on top for web browsing, taking the top spot in 5 locations. As mobile internet browsing continues to grow at a fast pace, helped by the massive use of smartphones, such as the iPhone, suppliers are starting to the cite the quality of their 3G network as a key differentiator.

As we reported when Vodafone started delivering the iPhone, tariffs on the iPhone and other smartphones will no doubt start to be differentiated on data packages as well as, or maybe instead of, bundles which include call minutes and texts.

O2 mobile broadband Pay & Go prices start from just £2 a day, plus unlimited free Wi-Fi from over 7500 hotspots nationwide. Or there’s the mobile broadband monthly option at £15. The USB modem costs £20. Get more details on the Vodafone website.