ABSTRACTA Novell compact multiband broadside coupled split ring resonator (BC‐SRR) metamaterial structure fractal loaded slot antenna for 4G and other wireless systems is presented in this article. The radiating elements of the proposed antenna are composed of a Perturbed Sierpinski carpet fractal slot printed on the lower face of an FR4 substrate material (εr = 4.4). The slots are fed by a single L‐microstrip line of 50 Ohms characteristic impedance printed on the upper face of the substrate. The operating frequency bands of this antenna are, respectively, centered at 3.62, 6.244, 14.471, and 19.145 GHz and its total size is 28.5 mm × 40.5 mm × 1.5 mm. The introduction of the BC‐SRR structure in the center of this antenna achieved an additional broadband ranging from 2.48 to 3.35 GHz with other additional frequency bands around 5.91, 6.76, 8.33, 10.38, 13.73, and 16.1 GHz (15.74–16.41 GHz). The gain and radiation pattern plots of the antenna are also included and discussed in this article. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:2823–2828, 2016