The moon will soon have better 4G than many places on Earth
The moon is getting a 4G network thanks to a $14.1 million contract awarded by NASA to Nokia. That means that soon our lumpy, rocky celestial constant companion will have better 4G coverage than some places on earth.
And as it turns out, I happen to be living in one of the places in the UK with the worst overall 4G coverage.
I'm not bitter. OK, maybe a bit.
Stupid moon.
Must read: iPhone privacy checklist (2021 edition)
Tech trade-in website Mazuma Mobile number-crunched data from UK regulator Ofcom's Connected Nations report and discovered that parts of the UK still don't have full coverage from the UK's big four mobile operators: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.
Out of 650 areas, only 24% enjoyed full access to 4G on all four networks, leaving 493 with less than ideal coverage.
It turns out that islands fare badly, and since I live on an island, I was not surprised to find the area in which I live at number 3.
Right now, I'm shaking my fist at the moon.
Here are the top 10 worst areas in the UK:
Parliamentary constituency | Region | % of outdoor premises with 4G signal from all four operators |
Na h-Eileanan an Iar | Scotland | 50.11 |
Orkney and Shetland | Scotland | 62.72 |
Ynys Môn | Wales | 63.52 |
Ross, Skye and Lochaber | Scotland | 69.7 |
Dwyfor Meirionnydd | Wales | 73.11 |
Montgomeryshire | Wales | 75.59 |
Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 76.6 |
Cynon Valley | Wales | 78.77 |
Ceredigion | Wales | 79.78 |
Penrith and The Border | North West | 80.32 |
Living in the #3 spot, what I notice is that the patchy coverage makes it hard to know which network to choose. Even within walking distance, I find that I can move from excellent coverage for one network to terrible coverage, only to find out that another network has amazing coverage.
But that's the problem with having competing networks.
There are, however, worse places. Again, islands suffer the most.
Parliamentary constituency | Region | % of outdoor premises with 4G signal from zero operators |
Montgomeryshire | Wales | 4.13 |
Na h-Eileanan an Iar | Scotland | 3.33 |
Ross, Skye and Lochaber | Scotland | 3.31 |
Brecon and Radnorshire | Wales | 3.21 |
Newry and Armagh | Northern Ireland | 3.13 |
Ceredigion | Wales | 2.61 |
Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 1.93 |
Dwyfor Meirionnydd | Wales | 1.93 |
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | Wales | 1.86 |
West Tyrone | Northern Ireland | 1.55 |
One ticket to the moon, please.