Mobile internet users in New York benefit from broadband speeds that are almost four times faster than users in London experience, according to research published today.

The average download speeds for New Yorkers stands at 8.5 Mbps, compared with 2.265 Mbps for Londoners. Average upload speed in New York is 4 Mbps, whereas in London, it is just 1 Mbps.

The figures were reported by data testing company RootMetrics, which carried out 16,707 on-the-ground independent tests across both cities – 11,413 in London and 5,294 in New York.

“It’s quite amazing to find such a vast disparity in services between two cities that are rival destinations for global business and tourism,” said Bill Moore, CEO and president at RootMetrics.

In London, 3UK was the operator that provided the best overall broadband and SMS performance. O2 was second, Vodafone third, Orange fourth and T-Mobile fifth.