The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has recently stated that rural areas in the UK are better off with 2G technology when it comes to making calls rather than more advanced 3G services.

Research has recently been carried out by the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom with regards to mobile phone usage in rural parts of the UK. Officials from Ofcom have now said that based on the research people in rural areas are probably better off using 2G phones when it comes to making calls rather than opting for the 3G smart phones that are becoming so popular.

Ofcom said that despite the fact that 3G phones are more technologically advanced and offer a huge range of features they were not as suitable as 2G phones when it came to making voice calls from rural areas. The study indicated that the older phones performed better in rural areas because they had more internal space for aerials.

In its report Ofcom stated: “As would be expected, all the 2G operators have widespread coverage of the roads that were surveyed with relatively few not-spots. 3G coverage is much lower on the roads driven, likely reflecting the stage of network roll out in Devon at the time of the study.”

Ofcom carried out testing in order to reach its conclusion. The test results showed that 2G phones had a success rate of ninety seven percent when it came to calling in rural areas whereas 3G smart phones had a success rate of only ninety five percent.

Source – IT Pro Portal