Vodafone said its 30 day network guarantee launched two weeks ago is a “mark of confidence in our network and services”, following last week’s Opensignal report on UK coverage and rival EE’s ambitious 4G plan, unveiled today.

The Opensignal report said EE is “leading the pack in coverage” and the same operator announced today it will bring 4G coverage to 95 per cent of the UK’s land mass by 2020.

Meanwhile the same report put Vodafone in second place in a 4G coverage comparison. Its 4G customers saw an LTE signal 57 per cent of the time, beaten by EE (61 per cent). On overall (3G and 4G) download speeds, Vodafone could only grab third spot behind 3 UK and EE, the leader. Worringly for Vodafone, it ranked last in 4G download speeds.

Vodafone’s Network Guarantee gives all new and upgrading mobile customers 30 days to “try us, love us or leave us – with no strings attached” and “goes far beyond a customer’s statutory rights”.

“It’s a mark of confidence in our network and services – in which we’ve invested more than £2 billion since 2014,” the company said, adding that it has spent over £200 million in London alone during 2014 and 2015 to provide 99 per cent 4G population coverage.

Rival EE argued in its press briefing that geographical coverage is more important a metric than population coverage. It covers 96 per cent of the population and plans to extend this to 98 per cent by the end of the year.

Vodafone also claimed its coverage is unbeatable in 40 large towns and cities across the UK “and we won’t stop there.”

Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO, Vodafone UK, said: “This industry first guarantee truly puts the needs of our customers at the heart of our business. We’ve invested heavily in our network and services over the past few years so we’re now giving our customers the freedom to really test the strength and speed of it across the UK.”