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BT uses EE's 4G network (which it now also owns), so you can look at that to see its level of coverage. EE has 4G available in thousands of towns, cities and villages and is currently the market leader.
EE – and by extension BT - also has over 99% UK population coverage, so there's almost nowhere you won't get 4G. The network also has over 86% of the UK geographically covered.
Those are some impressive stats, but there’s more to a network than its coverage and there are reasons you might want to choose BT over EE, or any other network, as well as some reasons you might want to think twice.
Read on for a full rundown and review of BT Mobile, including the areas where it excels and those where there’s room for improvement.
|
Pros |
Cons |
|---|---|
|
High speeds |
No Pay As You Go plans |
|
Allows tethering |
No inclusive roaming beyond the EU |
| Good 4G coverage |
No unlimited data plans |
Our Rating
|
Network Type |
Coverage by population |
|---|---|
|
4G |
> 99% |
|
3G |
98% |
|
2G |
99% |
BT Mobile uses the same core network as EE giving it excellent coverage across the UK with 99, 98 and 99 per cent 4G, 3G and 2G coverage respectively. That puts it in joint first place with EE when it comes to coverage, but you also benefit from access to BT's WiFi hotspots across the UK.
Use BT’s coverage checker above to find out more about BT coverage in your area, including signal strengths and details on both indoor and outdoor coverage.
|
Network |
4G Coverage by population |
|---|---|
|
BT Mobile (EE Network) |
> 99% |
|
Vodafone |
98% |
|
O2 |
99% |
|
Three |
99.8% |
As you can see in the coverage comparison above, BT is ahead of rivals, but not by much, as Vodafone and O2 have almost as much 4G population coverage.
Locations with 4G coverage include but are not limited to the following cities:
Aberdeen, Armagh, Bangor, Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Chester, Chichester, Coventry, Derby, Derry, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Ely, Exeter, Glasgow, Gloucester, Hereford, Inverness, Kingston upon Hull, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Lisburn, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Newry, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Peterborough, Peterlee, Perth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Ripon, Sheffield, Southampton, St Albans, St Asaph, St David’s, Salford, Salisbury, Stirling, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Truro, Wakefield, Wells, City of Westminster, Winchester, Wolverhampton Worcester and York.
Recent locations to benefit from EE (and by extension BT) 4G include Astley Bridge and parts of Scotland, Northumberland and North Yorkshire.
BT mostly uses standard 4G, which is roughly 5 times faster than a standard 3G network. However, it also has an Extra Speed service as an optional extra, which reaches speeds of up to 60Mbit/sec.
|
Network |
4G download speeds |
4G latency (ms) |
|---|---|---|
|
BT Mobile (EE Network) |
29.02Mbps |
40.35ms |
|
Three |
22.55Mbps |
47.23ms |
|
Vodafone |
20.07Mbps |
40.6ms |
|
O2 |
15.16Mbps |
42.84ms |
According to an OpenSignal report from April 2018, EE’s average 4G download speed is 29.02Mbps. BT’s isn’t part of the report, but it’s likely to be similar to EE’s, meaning it’s probably higher than any major rival.
EE’s average latency meanwhile is 40.35ms. That’s the measure of how long the network takes to respond to a request, so a lower number is better here, and EE (and likely by extension BT) is once again in the lead.
|
Network |
Download/upload speeds |
|---|---|
|
BT Mobile (EE Network) |
28.80/9.29Mbps |
|
Vodafone |
17.26/8.16Mbps |
|
Three |
14.58/7.35Mbps |
|
O2 |
14.11/7.13Mbps |
In a Speedtest report from 2017 EE (and therefore likely BT) was again found to be the fastest, with average download speeds of 28.80Mbps and average upload speeds of 9.29Mbps.
|
Frequency |
Frequency Band |
Network |
|---|---|---|
|
800MHz |
Band 20 |
4G |
|
1800MHz |
Band 3 |
2G & 4G |
|
2100MHz |
Band 1 |
3G & 4G |
|
2600MHz |
Band 7 |
4G |
BT Mobile uses the 800MHz band, 1800MHz band and 2600MHz band for 4G. The 800MHz band is long range, making it a great fit for countryside locations, but it can also penetrate walls, for good indoor coverage.
The 2600MHz band on the other hand is shorter range but higher capacity, which means it can deal well with congested areas like inner cities. The 1800MHz band is somewhere in the middle.
For more in depth information, check out our 4G frequencies guide.
BT through EE is working to improve its 4G in more than 600 sites across London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, among other places. EE also plans to double the maximum speed at 900 4G sites, bringing them to 100Mbps, which could potentially benefit BT.
Not only that, but EE also plans to install a further 200 sites across Scotland, which again will benefit BT Mobile. It plans to bring 4G coverage to 95% of the UK geography by 2020.
BT Mobile doesn’t have any speed restrictions, no matter how much you upload or download, even at peak hours. BT Mobile also won’t slow down peer to peer file-sharing, so you’re free to use the network however and whenever you want without being slowed.
BT Mobile offers a range of Pay Monthly and SIM Only Plans, which are detailed below. Note that they all include free use of BT’s Wi-Fi hotspots, and many of them support Family SIM, which lets you add additional SIM cards to the contract at a reduced price, each with its own data, and each additional one only being tied into a 30-day contract.
All of BT’s plans come with 4G at no extra cost.
|
|
Mobile Phones |
SIM Only |
|---|---|---|
|
Plans Available |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Max Data |
30GB |
25GB |
|
Contract lengths |
24 months |
12 months |
|
EU Roaming |
✔ | ✔ |
|
Global Roaming |
✖ | ✖ |
|
Tethering |
✔ |
✔ |
|
VoLTE |
✔ |
✔ |
|
WiFi Calling |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Data Rollover |
✖ |
✖ |
|
Spending Caps |
✔ |
✔ |
|
Free BT Sport on mobile |
✔* | ✔* |
|
|
* On plans with 6GB data and higher
BT Mobile’s Pay Monthly plans are all 24 months long and all allow you to use your data allowance towards tethering. You can get up to 30GB of monthly data with Pay Monthly plans.
BT’s SIM Only plans are all 12 months long and come with up to 25GB of monthly data. As with Pay Monthly, you can use any or all of that data for tethering.
Highlights of BT Mobile’s plans include free access to BT Sport on Pay Monthly plans with 6GB of data or more, and discounts if you’re a BT Broadband customer. There are also extras, detailed below, however data limits are middling.
BT also doesn’t offer any Data Only plans currently, but your normal BT SIM card should work in tablets.
BT Mobile doesn’t currently offer any Pay As You Go plans.
BT's Extra Speed service is available as an optional add-on, doubling 4G speeds to up to 60Mbps. It's available in many of the same places as standard 4G. This is the equivalent of EE’s double speed service and isn’t as fast as EE’s 4G+.
BT Mobile lets you use as much of your monthly data allowance as you want for tethering, so you can get tablets, laptops and other devices online by sharing your phone’s network connection. The only limit is your data allowance.
Wi-Fi Calling refers to the act of calling and texting over a Wi-Fi network, while using your normal number, dialler and SMS app, so it’s completely seamless. BT Mobile offers this to all new and existing customers, but currently you need an iPhone 5S or later, or a Samsung Galaxy S9, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus or Samsung Galaxy A8 bought from BT Mobile to take advantage of it.
VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE (sometimes called 4G Calling) and lets you make and receive calls over 4G, so you’ll be able to stay in touch in places that don’t have a 2G or 3G signal. BT Mobile offers this to all customers, but at the moment it only works on the iPhone 6 or later, or a Samsung Galaxy S9, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus or Samsung Galaxy A8 bought from BT Mobile.
BT Mobile lets you use your full allowance of minutes, texts and data at no extra cost in 47 European destinations. These are as follows:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (Incl. Azores & Madeira), Reunion, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Vatican City.
While hard to judge conclusively, two recent reports suggest that BT Mobile’s customer service may leave something to be desired.
In the Which? H1 2017 UK Mobile Network Survey, which polled 4,026 members of the public, BT Mobile was rated 8th overall, with a customer score of 63% and a customer service rating of 2 stars (out of 5). It additionally got 3 stars for ease/speed of contacting and value for money, and 2 stars for incentives.
Meanwhile, in an Ofcom complaints report from Q3 2017, BT Mobile was found to have got 9 complaints for every 100,000 customers. That might not sound like many, but only Vodafone performed worse, with 10 complaints per 100,000, while the industry average is just 5.
By leveraging the power of EE’s infrastructure BT has one of the fastest 4G networks around – especially if you opt for its Extra Speed service. But it’s also got benefits of its own, such as free access to BT’s extensive network of Wi-Fi hotspots.
Its offerings feel slightly limited, as there’s no Pay As You Go and no data SIMs. BT also isn’t as competitive for roaming as some rivals, and its customer service record doesn’t look great, but if you’re happy to have a contract and will mostly be using your phone in the UK it’s a strong option.
