Who’s best: mobile operators or companies which piggyback on their infrastructure?

The UK’s four mobile operators – Three, O2, Vodafone and EE – have been tested against companies piggybacking off their networks (known as MVNOs) in a first of its kind comparison by SignalTracker.

In tests across the UK in a range of urban, suburban and rural environments, SignalTracker found that while parent networks (known as MNOs) have slightly better download speeds than the MVNOs, the overall levels are reasonable, meaning that many customers are unlikely to notice the difference.

MNOs are also more reliable than their MVNOs, based on the number of test failures in our surveys – see graph below.

Key findings 

• MNOs have slightly better download speeds than MVNOs but most users would be unaware because the results are above 20 Mbps, the level at which poor performance becomes more noticeable
• MNOs have fewer failed tests than MVNOs: the difference is much bigger than that for download tests
• Of the MVNOs, iD and giffgaff had the worst performance, falling far behind their parent networks, Three and O2.
  • In the suburbs, iD averaged 26 Mbps download speeds while Three was 105 Mbps;
  • giffgaff failed in 26% of rural tests and 22% of suburban tests while O2 failed in just 4% of tests in all locations

Which service is best for you?

Our speed tests showed similar results for MVNOs and MNOs so how should consumers choose?

Price. Breaking it down, on a one month contract with a cancel anytime offer, you will be getting the best prices from an MVNO, as MNOs often run better savings across 12 and particularly 24 month contracts. The contracts we used for the tests show the benefits of MVNOs:

• Three 1-month data pack unlimited – £31 per month*
• iD Mobile unlimited pay monthly sim only – £15 per month
• Vodafone Unlimited Max 30 day contract – £48 per month
• Lebara unlimited 30-day sim – £30 per month
• O2 unlimited pay monthly – £38 per month
• Giffgaff monthly sim only rolling unlimited plan – £35 per month
• EE unlimited essentials pay monthly – £38 per month
• Lycamobile UK unlimited data – £12.50 per 30 days

*Prices correct at the time of writing in late August

Some standouts here include Lycamobile – £12.50 for 30 days is incredible value, especially when the performance from the two networks is so close.

However, it is also worth considering MNO’s new selling point that MVNOs do not offer – 5G standalone (5G SA). This  does not rely on 4G infrastructure – unlike 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) –  so it is faster and has improved latency. Expected download speeds on 5G SA are expected to be up to 100 Mbps, which allows things like gaming and 4k streaming while on the move.

So, while MVNOs charge significantly less, if you want faster download speeds and greater reliability; and don’t mind longer contracts, then an MNO 5G SA deal might be preferable.

Download speeds by mobile technology on EE and Lyca

The research was carried out by our parent company PolicyTracker, and to view it in full, complete this form.