The 2016 Mobile Network Test in Spain
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MOBILE BENCHMARK The 2016 Mobile Network Test A Coruña Padrón Caldas de Reis Benavente Mollerussa in Spain Vigo Verín Zaragoza Lleida Igualada Fraga Barcelona Peñaranda de Bracamonte La Almunia Vilanova i de Doña Godina la Geltrú Salamanca Amposta Ávila Madrid Santa Cruz de Tenerife Aranjuez Sagunt Valencia Xàva Valdepeñas Las Palmas de Elda Costa Adeje Gran Canaria Murcia Córdoba Andújar Carmona Totana Écija Sevilla Puerto Lumbreras Maspalomas Osuna Antequera Málaga A total of 56 million mobile subscribers makes Spain one of the largest mobile So, the 2016 network markets in P3 connect Mobile Europe. Telefónica’s Benchmark Spain Movistar has the most promises interesting subscribers, while results. Which Vodafone and Orange network is the best are constantly com choice for voice and peting for the second for data communi rank. Yoigo has star cation? Which ted to grow under its operator scores new ownership. best in quality and performance? 1 MOBILE BENCHMARK The 2016 P3 connect Mobile Benchmark in Spain shows clear improvements, both in the scores and KPIs of all four contenders. The overall ranking of Spain’s operators, however, does not present many surprises. Results in a nutshell P3‘s network benchmarks are widely accep- ted for setting industry standards as well as being highly objective. The carefully designed methodology scheduled four drive-test cars to max. 1000 Points Vodafone Movistar visit 14 large cities and 26 smaller towns in Spain Orange as well as the roads and motorways connecting these municipalities. The test routes also inclu- ded the islands Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The Yoigo areas in which we tested accounted for more than 11 million people, or approximately 23.8 per cent of the Spanish population. One aspect of P3‘s great attention to detail is the use of up- to-date LTE “Cat 9“ smartphones for the data tests, which accounts for the latest technical develop- ments such as LTE carrier aggregation. Ano- 521 511 497 DATA ther factor is the use of the most comprehen- max. 600 sive mobile plans avail able from each operator. 391 2016‘s results see an overall improvement in performance levels – each operator was able to gather more points than in last year‘s mobile network benchmark, although we have VOICE max. 400 344 325 325 240 increased thresholds and requirements to reflect the general technical development. Total Score 865 836 822 631 Like in 2015‘s P3 connect Mobile Bench- mark in Spain, the overall winner is Vodafone Grade very good good good sufficient with strong results both in the voice and data categories. Vodafone‘s improvements in the Shown voice, data and total scores are rounded. data category are even more impressive than Overall Results Voice and Data Vodafone Movistar Orange Yoigo in the already strong voice discipline. Movistar comes in as a strong second and also VOICE max. 400 Points 344 325 325 240 shows respectable results both in the voice and Ci es Drivetest 240 89% 82% 84% 68% data disciplines. Like Vodafone, Movistar has im- Towns Drivetest80 86% 88% 86% 68% proved more distinctly in the data category than Roads Drivetest80 76% 73% 68% 28% in voice. Orange ranks third, but achieves the same voice score as its constant rival Movistar. DATA max. 600 Points 521 511 497 391 Both networks fully deserve their overall grade Ci es Drivetest 360 91% 90% 87% 74% “good“. Yoigo ranks last with a clear distance to Towns Drivetest 120 84% 83% 83% 63% the other three. In spite of its only “sufficient“ Roads Drivetest 120 78% 74% 70% 41% result, the smallest operator has improved in the voice cate gory, but stagnated in the data section. TOTAL max. 1000 Points 865 836 822 631 2 MOBILE BENCHMARK The Spanish mobile network market is highly competitive: Vodafone and Orange regularly contend for the second position in market share, and as of June 2016 the smallest operator Yoigo has a new owner. Spain’s operators Movistar is the brand name Orange España is the brand that the Spanish telecommu- name of France Telecom‘s nications company Telefónica mobile network in Spain. It uses for the mobile network in has been operating under this its home market. Telefónica name since 2006. Previously, itself is one of the largest telco the network was known as companies in the world. The “Amena“ – this brand name operator is present in 21 lives on in Orange Spain‘s countries with a total of Vodafone España has been portfolio as a low-cost offer Yoigo was the latest mobile 130,000 em ployees and present on the Spanish mobile that is only available on the operator to enter the Spanish achieved worldwide revenues communications market since internet. Also, its network ser- market. Founded in the year of over €47 billion in 2015. the year 2000. Then, the British ves a number of mobile virtual 2000 under the name Xfera, While the company intro- Vodafone Group acquired network operators such as the company started its actual duced the Movistar brand in Airtel Móviles which had ope- MasMovil, Carrefour Móvil and operation in 2006, offering Latin American countries in rated in Spain since 1994. others. With 12.8 million custo- only a UMTS/3G network at 2005, it has been active in In Spain, Vodafone now has mers, Orange is the third largest 2100 MHz. At this time, the Spain since the launch of 14.1 million mo bile custo- Spanish mobile operator – its Swedish telecommunications GSM services back in 1995. mers, which adds up to a market share includes about company TeliaSonera acquired Today, Movi star is the largest market share of about 25 per 23 per cent of the population. the majority of shares and re- mobile operator in Spain with cent. In the fiscal year 2015/ In the fiscal year 2015, Orange branded the network as “Yoigo“. about 17.1 million subscri- 2016, Vodafone Spain achie- Spain achieved a revenue of This name was supposed to bers, which equals a market ved revenues of €4.5 billion €4.2 billion which contributed reflect the simplicity and ease share of roughly 30 per cent. which contributes about nine 10.5 per cent to the whole in rates as well as in the use It offers GSM service at 900 per cent to the whole Vodafone Orange Group‘s 2015 results. of the service. In June 2016, and 1800 MHz, UMTS/3G at Group‘s financial result. Orange Spain has deployed the former MVNO (mobile vir- 900 and 2100 MHz and LTE Vodafone‘s mobile network 2G networks at 900 and 1800 tual network operator) Más- at 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz. in Spain offers GSM service at Mhz, 3G networks at 900 and móvil bought the company. Since the end of 2014, 900 and 1800 MHz, UMTS/3G 2100 MHz and 4G at 800, Yoigo has a national roaming Movistar has supported 4G at 900 and 2100 MHz and 1800 and 2600 MHz. Orange agreement with Movistar until carrier aggregation – which LTE at 800, 1800 and 2600 offers “4G+“ or “LTE Advanced“ the end of 2016, which is sche- means that suitable smart- MHz. The Vodafone mobile with data rates of up to 200 duled to switch to Orange in phones can combine LTE fre- network in Spain supports LTE Mbps in most larger cities in- January 2017. Following the quencies for higher bandwidth. carrier aggregation of its 1800 cluding all provincial capitals. merger with Másmóvil, the and 2600 MHz frequency bands. customer base has increased The company offers LTE down- from 3.7 million former Yoigo link speed with up to 300 Mbps subscribers to approxima tely and calls this service “4G+“. 4.2 million, which equals a This service is available in all market share of 7.5 per cent. large cities including all pro- In July 2013, Yoigo started vincial capitals as well as in the deployment of a 4G net- many rural areas. Vodafone work at 1800 MHz. Its LTE España continues to upgrade coverage now includes all its mobile network sites to this major Spanish cities and most “LTE Advanced“ standard. of the provincial capitals. 3 MOBILE BENCHMARK VOICE A close look 40% Call Setup Time at Spain’s Call Success Rao networks Speech Quality In 2015’s mobile network benchmark, Vodafone was the clear winner, followed at a distance by Movistar and Orange with Yoigo in last place. How do these competitors score one year later? DATA P3 communications GmbH, In 2015 alone, P3 compiled 60% based in Aachen, Germany, is a more than 60,000 measurement world leader in mobile network hours in 47 countries, with its testing. It is part of the P3 group, test vehicles covering more than Web Page Download with over 3000 employees 1.2 million kilometres. As the world wide and a turnover of de-facto industry standard, the Success Rao more than €300 million. P3 is P3 benchmarking methodology partnering with the German focuses on customer-perceived telecommunications magazine network quality – examining Youtube Quality connect, which has more than both voice telephony that makes 20 years of editorial experience up 40% of the total result as well and is one of the leading test as data connectivity that accounts File Up- and Download authorities in Europe for tele- for 60% of the score. P3‘s net- commu nications products and work bench marks are widely ac- services. cepted as an objective authority. Together, P3 and connect have been conducting the most Interesting results in 2016 “All Spanish operators have improved important mobile network After our first mobile network compared to 2015‘s exercise – further benchmark test in Germany benchmark in Spain conducted in for nearly 15 years, extending 2015, it was interesting to see developments can be expected in it to Austria and Switzerland whether the overall performance the coming year with Voice over LTE in 2009.