A Third Expect The Summer Of Sport to Break 3G

A third of those attending the many events during this year's Summer of Sport do not expect 3G services to work, according to a survey by CommProve. 

The research shows that consumers don’t believe their network is capable of delivering services to vast crowds, particularly following recent BT and O2 outages. 68 per cent of phone users do expect to be able to make and receive calls - but believe mobile internet services will fall over. 

Lars Pedersen, chief executive of CommProve, says: "Mobile operators are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up service demand, and this is resulting in service failures at the most frustrating moments. Operators need to make their networks smarter at managing traffic and ensure customers never miss out."

Traditional call and SMS was a bugbear for consumers, with 61 per cent saying they find it 'extremely frustrating' when they can’t make or receive phone calls, and 55 per cent for SMS.

Operator Three did rather well from the survey - 53 per cent thought its mobile internet could be relied upon at a major event, more than any other operator.