UK mobile broadband speeds lower than advertised

Mobile broadband providers are delivering connection speeds far lower than the maximum advertised, according to a new survey.

Research from Broadband Expert suggests that the average mobile broadband speed received by UK consumers is only 1.46Mbps, less than half provided by average home connections.

William Harvey, technical director for Broadband Expert, said: "It is not surprising that mobile broadband is behind fixed line broadband as it's a comparatively new technology."

Vodafone recorded the highest industry speed of 2.3Mbps, which is still significantly less than the maximum 7.2Mbps advertised. T-Mobile achieved a speed of 1.1Mbps, while 3 came in last with 1Mbps.

Mr Harvey noted: "Mobile broadband use tends to be business focused with email and web browsing the key activities. Speeds of 1-2Mbps are generally adequate for this type of activity."

The average upload speed, which measures the rate at which data can be sent back to the internet, was 0.38Mbps. This is an important factor for consumers wanting to make VolP calls.