The mobile phone companies boasted that 4G services would be ‘five times faster’ than the existing 3G networks when they launched in the autumn of 2012. 

 

However, a new official study puts the real figure at an average of 2.5 times faster - 14.7 megabits per second compared to 5.9Mbit/s per second on the 3G service that most people use. 

 

At the same time, the evidence suggests that 4G services are likely to slow down as more people connect to them. 

 

4G technology is being promoted by the big mobile networks on the basis it offers high speed internet access and smooth video streaming without annoying buffering¹. 

 

More than 10 million people have been won over by the promises and have signed two year contracts costing an average of £20 ($30) a month. 

 

When 4G services launched at the end of 2012, the average download speed was up at around 19 Mbit/s, however the new research suggests an average of 14.7 and other studies put it as low as 10. 

 

This has happened because more people are using the service, effectively causing jams on the airwaves. The only way this can be countered is if the networks spend millions upgrading² masts³ and installing new ones.

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