Streetwave to map mobile coverage across West Yorkshire's 12,000km road network

Network analyst firm Streetwave has been chosen by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to carry out a real-world study of mobile network coverage and 4G and 5G data performance across the region. The programme will cover 12,000km of the county's road network and test all three of the UK's primary mobile networks: EE, O2 and VodafoneThree, the combined Vodafone and Three UK operator.

The survey spans the areas covered by Leeds City Council, Bradford Council, Calderdale Council, Kirklees Council and Wakefield Council. Over the next 12 months, Streetwave will conduct two full surveys of each local authority area's road network, passing large numbers of homes, businesses and public sector sites along the way.

How the surveys work

Streetwave maps mobile coverage and data speeds by fitting refuse (waste bin) collection lorries with several off-the-shelf smartphones running specialist software. As the vehicles follow their routes, the handsets run continuous network tests: once every 20 metres in rural areas and every 5 metres in urban areas.

The data collected covers throughput speed, which reflects the consumer experience, along with signal strength, network generation and frequency band information across all the main UK operators.

The firm says its approach captures real-world readings rather than crowdsourced data or modelled predictions. All data is collected from its own handsets, using devices with modern chipsets such as Samsung Galaxy S24s. Streetwave typically refreshes data twice per year, though it says collection can happen as often as every week.

What the data will be used for

Local authorities use the results to identify areas that may need extra intervention to improve local mobile coverage or network capacity. Residents can also access some of the findings through Streetwave's free address-based coverage checker and interactive maps, where anyone can enter a postcode and house number to view the quality of the networks outside their home, including upload and download speeds and a comparison across providers.

"This will help identify connectivity gaps, monitor improvements over time, and support future digital infrastructure investment across the region," the company said. "The results will also be shared with the region's 2.4 million residents through Streetwave's free to use coverage checker. Together, the surveys will provide the evidence needed to improve digital connectivity across one of England's largest combined authorities."

A growing body of work

The West Yorkshire appointment adds to a run of similar surveys Streetwave has carried out for public bodies. The firm has been enlisted to support what has been described as the largest mobile coverage survey ever undertaken across the UK, collecting data across 31,780km of roads in the River Severn region. It has also worked with councils including Neath Port Talbot, where a real-world survey was run in March 2026 using vehicles driving along local roads to measure outdoor mobile signal at street level.

Earlier work by the firm has highlighted patchy coverage elsewhere. In Cranleigh, on-the-ground analysis found the geographical area with acceptable coverage, defined as 5Mbps download and 2Mbps upload, was 23% for EE, 6% for Vodafone, 6% for O2 and 0% for Three. Research on a London to Edinburgh rail journey lasting four hours and 40 minutes found passengers spent on average 46% of the trip, or two hours and eight minutes, in internet browsing not-spots.