Dodgy connectivity is spoiling people’s food

Restaurants in Soho were among the worst for mobile connection

One in ten Brits have
seen their dining experience ruined by poor mobile connectivity.

This is according to
research carried out by benchmarking company Global Wireless
Solutions (GWS), which surveyed more than 2,000 UK adults on their
mobile experiences when dining out.

Nearly a third (29 per
cent) of respondents said they took pictures while dining out, with
21 per cent admitting to taking shots of a restaurant’s interiors.

However, poor mobile
signals led just over a quarter (26 per cent) to complain of
inadequate indoor service, with 23 per cent of respondents forced to
go outside for reliable coverage.

Testing signals across
50 London restaurants, GWS found that O2 and Vodafone performed the
best among operators.

The company discovered
that many restaurants in Soho struggled, along with high-rise
locations.

O2 and Vodafone were
the joint- best for quickest upload speeds in the top 10 restaurants
for connectivity (coming top in four each), while O2 led in eight of
these for fastest access to social media updates.

GWS CEO Paul Carter said: “Our phones are with us all the time, as people expect to stay connected, stay in touch and post content wherever they are.

“What’s surprising,
though, is that even in areas such as London, we are still seeing
weak mobile network service in popular, central locations when
indoors – including many restaurants that may be designed or
promoted with Instagram or social media in mind.”

The research also
revealed that 18 per cent of Brits expect restaurants to offer free
WiFi as standard, with a quarter unable to connect to the technology
in these places.

O2 and EE recorded the
best scores for successful call attempts, both at 99 per cent.