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In a report that has been released by Ofcom, Vodafone has been ranked last for the quality of call for mobile phone users in rural areas.

Ofcom used independent firm RootMetrics to measure network performance on mobile phones. The results were based on the quality of calls in areas which had coverage and the number of calls that failed to connect or cut out unexpectedly.

The study that was conducted resulted in network providers EE, O2, Three and Vodafone going head-to-head.

The overall results showed that EE provided the best service across the UK whilst O2 provided the best service within cities.

Overall Results:

97% of all calls on the EE network were successfully connected.
95.3% on O2,
94.5% on Three,
92.6% on Vodafone.

The results for calls made in rural areas were:

93.7% on the EE network were successfully completed.
87.4% on O2,
86% on Three,
79.9% on Vodafone.

A very unsurprising result was that more consumers in urban areas were happier with their mobile phone service that those in rural areas.

Ernest Doku, from uSwitch believes that everyone should now be able to get mobile reception, no matter where they are in the UK.

Doku stated, “In this day and age, we should all be able to get mobile reception, whether we’re in the heart of the city or out in the sticks. While it’s good to see that the majority living in cities are satisfied with their networks, this doesn’t help me if I’m in a field, in rural Wales, with a broken leg and unable to call for help.”

All four network providers have agreed to work with Ofcom to develop a common methodology for measuring the rates of successful mobile phone calls.

Vodafone have responded to the results and believe that the results do not show a fair reflection as they are now outdated.

A Vodafone spokeswoman stated, “The previously published RootMetric report is based on network measurements taken between June and December last year which were disproved by more up-to-date findings in spring this year.”

Do you have to make regular phone calls in rural areas? Are you happy with the quality of calls that you make/receive from your network provider?

The UK High Court has ruled that major ISPs must block access to a further two streaming sites, in an ongoing effort to try and reduce the number of sharing websites available to the public.

The two sites, SolarMovie and Tubeplus were added to the list by High Court Judge Lord Justice Arnold and will take effect sometime in early December. The decision went unopposed by the 6 largest ISPs in the UK � BT, Sky, Virgin Media, EE, TalkTalk and O2.

The ruling is something of a landmark in anti-piracy law, as it marks the first time a streaming website has been banned. Previous episodes in the anti-piracy saga have all involved torrent websites being on the banned list.

Creative campaign groups, such as PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) and Equity were all too pleased to hear the ruling, which they say will �protect the jobs of tens of thousands of people in the UK and the investments made in new content�.

The two new additions, whilst being the first two streaming websites, are just another couple of names to be added to the list which is now 30 strong, with other names such as Project-Free TV, The Pirate Bay and many other slightly less infamous sites making an appearance.

Some have daubed the UK as being the easiest place to have a website censored on copyright grounds, which is welcome news for owners of copyright all round. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has brought many of the cases to court, and welcomed this latest ruling. President of the MPA (EMEA), Chris Marcich, said �we want an internet that works for everyone, where the creative property of artists and creators is protected along with the privacy and security of all users�.

Despite more and more websites being banned, some have criticised the move, warning that banning websites will start a game of cat and mouse between the courts and ISPs holding the copyright and the websites trying to infringe it.