As an American living in the UK, I’ve had my fair share of learning moments. I’ve happily adopted the word “keen”, expanded my vocabulary around the weather and even acquired a taste for Marmite. But what I can’t stand is the dreadful mobile service.
I’m from Portland, Oregon, and moved to London last year. Living abroad, there’s a reputational risk of being an entitled American, and in many instances, I understand it. But when it comes to reliable phone coverage, I’m the full American stereotype: I feel it is my unequivocal right to make a phone call whenever and wherever I want.
In Oregon, you can’t escape phone coverage. Want to unplug during a forest retreat? Too bad. Climbing a mountain? Don’t worry about posting it on Instagram later, you can do it in real time.
As a result, my connectivity expectations are high.
When I first moved to London, I didn’t think twice about mobile coverage. It’s a global capital, after all. But ironically, I’ve learnt that international reputation is not always a signifier of reliable mobile networks.
My first encounter with poor coverage struck me on Oxford Street. Arriving in London only days before, I decided to face my jet lag head-on and explore my new home. In a regrettable moment of overconfidence, and with the lingering effects of an eight-hour time difference, I got lost.
Under normal circumstances, I would rely on Google Maps, but nothing would load. I walked street after street searching for a signal but I was ultimately left to do the unspeakable: ask a complete stranger for directions. It was mortifying.
To my unpleasant surprise, this marked the first of many irritating encounters with poor connectivity. Trying to call an Uber after a night out? Forget about it. I learnt, when meeting a friend in central London, to make careful plans beforehand just in case.
How could I be living in one of the most well-connected cities in the world but struggle to get a signal, and why didn’t I experience the same issues in the British countryside? I spoke to Kester Mann, a network operator specialist at technology research and advisory firm CCS Insight, who has more than 15 years’ experience in the mobile industry.
Mann said that several factors are at play. London’s old and dense architecture can make it difficult for mobile signals to penetrate, while commuter hot spots like train stations place additional strain on the networks.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Ofcom, last year, Brits used nearly a fifth more mobile data than the year before, a trend that Mann says is not helping the situation.
I also learnt that installing new infrastructure is much easier said than done. Across London, securing planning permission for new mobile masts has proven particularly difficult thanks in part to the number of protected buildings, and also due to resistance as they are often considered an eyesore.
Despite all of this, Mann told me that Londoners’ attitudes towards their mobile providers are fairly positive. Satisfaction is high and churn – people switching networks – remains relatively low. In the US, people would have revolted long ago.
One of my worst moments came at Outernet London. While waiting in a long queue, I realised that nothing on my phone would load, including the digital concert tickets in my inbox. Thankfully I had learned from my past mistakes and had taken a screenshot of the tickets beforehand. Without that, I would have had a long train ride home, mourning the concert that could have been.
To be fair, I also haven’t changed my mobile provider, despite my chronic annoyances, and if I’m being honest, I probably won’t, preferring instead to continue griping about it to my friends. Perhaps I am becoming more British.
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The experience has certainly expanded my understanding of life in the UK, learning the noble art of complaining as well as picking up a new conversation starter when the weather just doesn’t cut it.
In the US, we’re just as quick to complain, but we often follow it with action. Where Brits may accept spotty service as an unfortunate fact of life, Americans are more likely to write a bad review or chew out their provider. We commiserate, but we also escalate.
As I settle further into this new city and country, I’ll continue to air my grievances to friends about London’s connectivity issues – I’ll just know not to try to do it by phone on Oxford Street.
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