While Zong has come out as a clearer winner in data speeds, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s Quality of Service (QoS) survey has raised question marks on the Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) while saying that call connection time of all the mobile operators is not satisfactory.
3G speeds of mobile operators is averaging below 2Mbps for Ufone and Telenor while Mobilink’s average 3G speed stood at 5.04Mbps and Zong topped the charts with 7.71Mbps of average 3G/4G speeds on its network.
It won’t be out of place to mention that Telenor’s average speed for 3G network decreased from 2.2Mbps during PTA’s previous QoS survey to 1.94Mbps. However, Ufone, Mobilink and Zong were able to increase average speeds of their 3G networks since the last survey that was conducted last year.
PTA said that it carried out this comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) Survey of 2G and 3G networks in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar to check voice and data QoS as per the required standards.
PTA said that its QoS Survey is in progress in other cities of Pakistan.
Adhoc QoS survey results clearly indicate that operators 3G operators with 10MHz frequency spectrum is higher than that of the Internet data speed provided by 3G operators with 5MHz frequency spectrum.
More details in below graphs:
3G Speeds
PTA, in its survey, found that data “throughput” of all 3G operators is higher than the benchmark set in their respective licenses.
Data throughput of Zong is the highest followed by Mobilink, whereas data throughput of Ufone is the lowest among all NGMS operators.
Signal Strength
PTA’s QoS survey revealed that signal strength of all 3G/4G operators are above the benchmark indicating good coverage in majority of the covered areas.
The lower the value of signal strength on negative axis, the higher is the signal strength.
PTA noted that overall signal strength of Ufone and Telenor networks is comparatively better than those of Zong and Mobilink but because of more frequency spectrum used by Zong and Mobilink for 3G/4G networks, their quality is superior.
Network Accessibility – 2G Networks
Network Accessibility is the probability that mobile services are available to an end customer by display of network indicator on the mobile phone throughout the entire duration of usage.
PTA found that Network Accessibility of all the mobile operators is satisfactory.
Grade of 2G Services
Grade of Service is probability that the end customer cannot access the mobile services when requested if it is offered by display of the network indicator on the mobile phone. In simple words, Grade of Service is Network Blocking
All mobile operators are meeting the specified Grade of Service that’s obligated in their license terms.
Call Connection Time
Call Connection Time is the time between sending of complete call initiation information by the caller and in return receipt of call setup notification.
In simple words, it is time between dialing a number and hearing ring-back tone.
According to PTA’s findings, the call connection time of all the mobile operators is not satisfactory and they need to do better in terms of connecting voice calls.
Call Completion Ratio
Call Completion Ratio is the probability that a service, once obtained, will continue to be provided under given conditions for a given time duration or until deliberately terminated by either caller (A-party) or receiver (B-party).
In simple words, this KPI provides information about Call Drops.
Call Completion Ratio for Mobilink and Ufone is below the required standard, whereas other three mobile operators are meeting the standard.
End to End Speech Quality
End-to-End Speech Quality of all the mobile operators is above the standard.
SMS Success Rate
SMS Success Rate is the probability that the short message is delivered successfully, end-to-end when requested and display of the relevant information on the mobile phone.
It provides information about successful delivery of SMS.
PTA said that SMS success rate for Mobilink and Warid Telecom is below the standard, whereas other mobile operators are meeting the standard.
End to End SMS Delivery Time
End-to-End SMS Delivery Time is the time between sending a short message to a short message center and receiving the very same short message at intended mobile phone (receiver).
It provides average time taken for delivery of short message from sender to recipient.
All mobile operators are meeting the standard for End-to-End SMS Delivery Time.
