For mobile network operators, the event serves not just as a technical challenge but as a branding and performance showcase, testing their ability to deliver high-speed, high-capacity mobile service under extreme conditions.
According to data from Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence, Three emerged as the top performer across most core metrics. With a median download speed of 347.66 Mbps, over twice as fast as rivals.
Three leveraged its large contiguous mid-band spectrum holdings and relatively light user load per antenna to deliver superior service. The structural advantage also led Three to top quality-of-experience indicators, such as web browsing, gaming latency, and video call performance.
Yet performance under pressure tells a more complex story. EE offered the most consistent service during peak congestion, leading 10th percentile speeds for both download and upload.
Even in the most strained network conditions (when signal is weak or user density high), EE subscribers were more likely to stream and share content uninterrupted.
Luke Kehoe, analyst at Ookla attribute this to EE’s diverse spectrum portfolio, which enables broad carrier aggregation and strategic traffic distribution across low and mid-band frequencies.
Vodafone and O2, while trailing Three and EE, still posted notable year-on-year improvements. Vodafone’s performance was a tale of two networks: it achieved the best signal strength and impressive coverage thanks to high site density and strong low-band deployment, but struggled with 10th percentile speeds, suggesting congestion issues, particularly on its 5G layer.
Despite these limitations, Vodafone played a pivotal role as the official "Connectivity Partner", powering eSIM trials, public Wifi zones, and 5G payment terminals.
O2, meanwhile, posted the lowest performance overall, hampered by limited spectrum resources and the largest user base per sector.
Still, it too recorded a 25% improvement in median download speeds over the previous year, owing to the addition of spectrum through 3G refarming and wider 5G low-band use.
Technically, delivering reliable service in such a setting is no small feat. Worthy Farm is not a stadium, it’s a field with minimal permanent infrastructure. Each year, operators deploy a network of temporary “cells on wheels” (COWs), power generators, and fibre or microwave backhaul links, all of which must be installed in under a month and removed just as quickly.
As operators prepare for Glastonbury’s return in 2027, following a traditional fallow year in 2026, the UK mobile landscape will look very different.
The Vodafone-Three merger, new mmWave spectrum, and increasingly advanced 5G standalone configurations will reshape the competitive field. But one thing is certain: Glastonbury will remain a marquee moment—where networks are tested, reputations are built, and the UK’s digital future gets its festival debut.
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