PTA conducted this automated survey for 3G/4G speeds, voice and SMS delivery in seven major cities of Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan. According to the PTA’s QoS survey of CMOs, Jazz has a greater percentage of 4G Excellent Coverage which resulted in higher 4G User Data Throughput.

Failing to Meet KPI Targets; Poor Performance of CMOs Continues

Data Services of CMOs

The performance of data services of CMOs has been checked by measuring User Data Throughput and Signal Strength (i.e. Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) for 3G and Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) for 4G).

USER DATA THROUGHPUT. This KPI defines user data rate (Internet speed) to be provided by CMOs to mobile users across the coverage areas. CMOs have achieved the threshold value of minimum 256Kbps of 3G User Data Throughput in all surveyed cities. Except ZonG at Lahore, Peshawar & Kabirwala and Ufone at Quetta, CMOs have achieved the threshold value of minimum 2Mbps of 4G User Data Throughput in surveyed cities Mobile Network Signal Strength is measured in decibels (dBm). Signal Strength can range from approximately -30 dBm to -100 dBm. The closer that number is to 0, the stronger the signal. In general, anything better than -85 decibels is considered a usable signal. In CMOs licenses, Mobile Signal Strength minimum level in outdoor is defined as -100dBm with 90% confidence. Signal Strength Category Description

The analysis of signal strength samples recorded during the drive test on survey routes revealed the following:

Ufone has a greater percentage of 3G Excellent Coverage which resulted in higher 3G User Data Throughput. The highest percentage of 3G Excellent Coverage was 86.5% of Ufone at Karachi, whereas the lowest percentage was 18.9% of Jazz at Kabirwala The average percentage of 3G Excellent Coverage of Ufone, Zong, Telenor and Jazz was found as 70.8%, 62.3%, 58.9% and 52.3% respectively. The average percentage of 3G Good Coverage of Jazz, Zong, Telenor and Ufone was 31.7%, 28%, 27.5% and 21.2% respectively. The average percentage of 3G Fair Coverage of Jazz, Telenor, Zong and Ufone was 12.9%, 11.5%, 8.8% and 7.5% respectively. Jazz has a greater percentage of 4G Excellent Coverage which resulted in higher 4G User Data Throughput. The highest percentage of 4G Excellent Coverage was 41.7% of Jazz at Karachi, whereas the lowest percentage was 0.8% of Telenor at Kabirwala. The average percentage of 4G Excellent Coverage of Jazz, Telenor, Zong and Ufone, was 22.2%, 17.3%, 14.4% and 6.6% respectively. Lower percentage indicate that CMOs require further network expansion to serve the customers better. The average percentage of 4G Good Coverage of Zong, Jazz, Telenor and Ufone, was 39.1%, 34%, 27.5% and 24.5% respectively. The average percentage of 4G Fair Coverage of Ufone, Zong, Telenor and Jazz was 33.6%, 33%, 29.7% and 29.2% respectively. The average percentage of 4G Poor Coverage of Ufone, Telenor, Jazz and Zong was 32.3%, 24.3%, 14% and 13.2% respectively.

SMS Services of CMOs:

PTA survey report revealed that the SMS services provided by CMOs in Pakistan are below the minimum required licensing standards. PTA measures the SMS services of CMOs through SMS Success Rate and End-to-End SMS Delivery Time. The results are as follows;

None of the CMOs has achieved the threshold value of SMS Success Rate of 99% in all surveyed cities. Except for Telenor at Islamabad, Lahore & Peshawar, CMOs have achieved the threshold value of SMS End-to-End Delivery Time of 12 Seconds in surveyed cities.

Voice Services of CMOs:

PTA set Grade of Service, Service Accessibility, Call Connection Time, Call Completion Ratio and End-to-End Speech Quality as measuring standards to check the voice services of CMOs. The results are as follows,

none of the CMOs has achieved the Service Accessibility of > 98% in all the surveyed cities. None of the CMOs has achieved the Grade of Service of < 2%, in all the surveyed cities None of the CMOs has achieved the Call Connection Time of < 6.5 Seconds in all the surveyed cities. Telenor & Ufone have not achieved the Inter System Handover for Circuit Switched Voice Only of > 98% in all the surveyed cities. None of the CMOs has achieved the Call Completion Ratio of > 98% in all the surveyed cities. None of the CMOs has achieved the End-to-End Speech Quality/ Mean Opinion Score of > 3 in all the surveyed cities.

The QoS survey was carried out using the newly procured Automated QoS Monitoring & Benchmarking Tool i.e. “SmartBenchmarker”. Moreover, the cities in which the survey was carried out are as follows:

Peshawar Islamabad Karachi Kabirwala Hyderabad Lahore Quetta

The search for quality service is debatably the most important consumer trend as consumers are now demanding higher quality in products and in services than ever before. When the telecom operators failed to provide better quality services, it will definitely affect the customers’ rate. Zong, Telenor and Ufone are continuously disappointing its customers by not providing the quality of services. If the same trend goes on, these telecom operators will surely lose their customers satisfaction which in return leads to lower the number of customers and revenue growth. To download the full reports Please Visit PTA website See Also: How To Convert Your Mobile Network in Pakistan