And things are not very much different today. When I take the train into London from the New Electronics office in north west Kent, I find internet connectivity varies wildly. At one point, you might get a couple of bars of 4G; at others, it’s a bar or two of EDGE.
So it’s no surprise to read today of the National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC) report, which finds that Britain is 54th in the world for 4G and that typical users can only access 4G 53% of the time. ‘There are too many digital deserts and partial not spots, even within our city centres’, it notes. ‘Our 4G network is worse than Romania and Albania, Panama and Peru’.
One of the reasons for the lack of coverage is that roll out of the network has been left to ‘the market’. Looking to the future, the NIC suggests it’s time for a change. “Government must now play an active role to ensure that basic services are available wherever we live, work and travel and our roads, railways and city centres must be made 5G ready as quickly as possible.”
But it could be worse – consumers in Germany and France have even worse access to 4G than those in the UK. And, in case you’re wondering, South Korea offers the best 4G coverage.