A map detailing levels of outdoor mobile broadband availability across the UK has been published by Ofcom as part of a report on communications infrastructure that will be submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Using data provided by network operators, the regulator discovered 73 per cent of properties - or just 13 per cent of the country's total landmass - can receive outdoor signal from all five 3G networks, with lower levels of coverage seen in sparsely populated areas.

This indicates that around 7.7 million homes and businesses cannot make a choice between the full complement of 3G mobile broadband providers.

Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and O2 offer a mix of 2G and 3G services, while 3 Mobile - which claims to be the UK's fastest growing mobile network - only holds a licence for 3G spectrum.

Mid-Wales and the Scottish Highlands, both of which have low population density and hilly terrain, were found to be the locations with the lowest levels of 3G coverage.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has allocated £150 million to improve current standards of mobile service in rural areas, with a particular focus on notspots.

Ofcom is working closely with the government to help it decide how this money should be spent.

Steve Unger, chief technology officer at the telecoms watchdog, said: "This is our first report to the government on the UK's communications infrastructure.

"We hope it will be a useful reference point for interested parties, particularly in the light of the recent government funding package of £150 million to help address mobile notspots."

An earlier report from Ofcom, published in May, revealed 17 per cent of households use mobile broadband services to browse the web, while seven per cent rely on it as their only way to get online.

The average download speed achieved by customers between September and December 2010, when the study was conducted, stood at 1.5Mbps. 

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