Mobile Network Performance Benchmarking

Governorate of

Dakhiliyah

Regulatory & Compliance Unit Quality of Service Department

Contents

1. Background

2. Test Methodology

3. Performance Indicators Definition

4. Results

5. Conclusion

1. Background

A comprehensive field test was conducted independently by TRA to assess and benchmark the

performance of Omantel and Ooredoo mobile voice and data networks in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.

Field Survey Date & Time: 4th – 8th May 2015 from 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Services Tested

Test Area

Network Service Technology

Omantel Voice 2G, 3G

Data 3G, 4G

Ooredoo Voice 2G, 3G

Data 3G, 4G

Governorate Wilayat

Dakhiliyah Bidbid, Samail, Izki, Nizwa (including Jabal Al Akhdar), Bahla,

Al Hamra, Manah, Adam

2. Test Methodology

The following test configuration was used for measurements: Service

Tested

Technology

Mode

Objective Test sequence KPIs measured

Omantel-

Mobile voice

Open (2G,

3G)

To check network

accessibility, retain-ability,

mobility, service integrity

and coverage

Calls of 60 sec duration with a 20

sec idle wait time between them to

allow for cell reselection from 2G to

3G mode.

CSSR, CDR, CSR,

RxLev, RSCP.

Omantel-

Mobile data

Open (2G,

3G, 4G)

To check data network

performance and

coverage

HTTP file download from the

service providers network and ping

test.

Latency, Ping Packet

Success Rate, Avg.

downlink throughput,

RSCP, RSRP.

Ooredoo-

Mobile voice

Open (2G,

3G)

To check network

accessibility, retain-ability,

mobility service integrity

and coverage

Calls of 60 sec duration with a 20

sec idle wait time between them to

allow for cell reselection from 2G to

3G mode

CSSR, CDR, CSR,

RxLev, RSCP.

Ooredoo-

Mobile data

Open (2G,

3G,4G)

To check data network

performance and

coverage

HTTP file download from the

service providers network and ping

test.

Latency, Ping Packet

Success Rate, Avg.

downlink throughput,

RSCP, RSRP.

3. Key Performance Indicators Definition

Mobile voice performance was measured based on the following set of KPIs: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR)– This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls successfully

established without facing blockage in the network as a ratio of the total number of call attempts made to access

and establish a voice call. (to check network accessibility)

Call Drop Rate (CDR) – This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls dropped due to technical

problems or coverage gaps in the service provider’s network as a ratio of the total number of calls successfully

established. (to check network retain-ability)

Call Success Rate (CSR) – This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls successfully established

without facing blockage in the network as a ratio of the total number of call attempts made to access and establish

a voice call and then successfully terminated from the user-end without being dropped or disconnected from the

network side due to a technical irregularity. (to check service integrity)

Mobile data performance was measured based on the following set of KPIs:

Packet Latency - Packet delay, which represents the time taken for data packets to pass through the GPRS

bearer in a round-trip time from the mobile to the server in the service provider’s core network and back to the

mobile. (to check delay in the network)

Ping Packet Success Rate is the percentage of packets lost between designated routes in the network. It is

used to indicate the loss of data packets during transmission over a telecommunications network. (to check data

integrity)

HTTP Average downlink throughput - This is the average downlink throughput (rate at which data/bits are

transferred to the user) experienced by a user while downloading content from the Internet. (to check download

speed)

Performance Indicators Definition continued

Coverage is assessed based on the following radio parameters:

Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) – This indicator measures the linear average of the received power

on reference signal resource elements in the downlink during the drive test (to check 4G coverage).

Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) – This indicator measures the received signal code power of the pilot

channel in the downlink during the drive test (to check 3G coverage).

Received Signal Level (RxLevSub) - This indicator measures the received signal strength in downlink during the

drive tests (to check 2G coverage).

The following convention is used for the coverage plot.

Serving Cell RSRP (dBm) 3G CPICH RSCP (dBm) 2G RxLevSub (dBm)

Range Range Range Classification Penetration

>= - 85 >= -80 >= -75 Excellent Indoor

>= -95 and < -85 >=-87 and <-80 >=-82 and <-75 Good

>= -105 and < -95 >=-100 and <-87 >=-95 and <-82 Fair In-Car

>= 120 and < -105 <-100 <-95 Weak Outdoor Only

4. Results 4.1 Mobile Voice Coverage

84.14 74.21

8.94 14.55 5.72 10.21 1.19 1.03 0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

100.00

Omantel Ooredoo

PD

F(%

)

Voice Coverage Distribution

Excellent Good Fair Weak

4.2 Mobile Voice Performance

CSR: Call Success Rate (Higher is better)

CDR: Call Drop Rate (Lower is Better)

CSSR: Call Setup Success Rate (Higher is better)

86.96

5.35

82.31

99.46

0.72

98.74 98

0.8

95

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

CSSR CDR CSR

Val

ue

(%

)

KPI

Voice Performance Indicators

Omantel Ooredoo TRA Threshold

4.3 Mobile Data Download Speed

0

5

30

100

5.08

Overall Avg. Download Speed (Mbps)

0

5

30

100

4.61

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Omantel

Ooredoo

Speed Distributon (Mbps)

Very Fast (5 to 100) Fast (2 to 5) Fair (0.5 to 2) Slow (0 to 0.5)

4.4 Mobile Data Performance

Packet Latency (ms): Lower is Better, Ping Packet Success Rate: Higher is Better

87.29

217.83

99.74

99.94

99.7

99.75

99.8

99.85

99.9

99.95

100

0

50

100

150

200

250

1

Pin

g P

acke

t Su

cce

ss R

ate

(%

)

Pac

ket

Late

ncy

(m

s)

Overall Data Performance

Packet Latency Omantel Packet Latency Ooredoo

TRA Threshold (Packet Latency) Ping Packet Success Rate Omantel

Ping Packet Success Rate Ooredoo

4.5 Mobile Data Performance Per Town/Wilayat

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Fanja Bidbid-Samail Izki Nizwa Jabal Akhdar Al Hamra Bahla Manah Adam

Town/Wilayat

Pac

ket

Late

ncy

(m

s)

Avg

. D

ow

nlo

ad S

pe

ed

(M

bp

s)

Avg. Downlink throughput (Mbps) Omantel Avg. Downlink throughput (Mbps) Ooredoo

TRA Threshold (Packet Latency) Avg. Packet Latency (ms) Omantel

Avg. Packet Latency (ms) Ooredoo

5 Conclusion

• In General, Omantel mobile network exhibits stronger voice coverage than Ooredoo throughout the

Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah.

• Ooredoo mobile network lacks basic voice coverage on the Jabal Akhdar access road from Birkat Al Mouz to

the top of the mountain.

• Ooredoo mobile network exhibits better voice performance than Omantel network with all KPIs meeting the

TRA thresholds.

• Omantel mobile network exhibits poor voice performance with all KPIs not-meeting the TRA thresholds. Call

blocking is found to be significantly high throughout the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah on Omantel network.

• Omantel mobile data network has good LTE footprint throughout the main Wilayat centers. No LTE coverage

was found on Ooredoo data network throughout Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.

• Omantel mobile data network exhibits good data performance with overall high download speeds and low

network delay which is within the TRA threshold.

• Ooredoo mobile data network exhibits fair data performance with overall good download speeds but the

network delay is extremely high and does not meet the TRA threshold in any Wilayat or Town.

Basis of results and conclusion

• The coverage information is based on the geographical drive test route used during the measurement exercise.

• The exercise has been conducted independently by the Authority without sharing any prior information with the

service providers about the type of tests being performed or location.

• The results of the exercise are based on the data collected from the field at a certain instance of time and day;

network behaviour may vary with traffic variations over time and events.

• Industry standard tools and work best practices have been used during the whole exercise.