At Opensignal, we’re committed to providing a real-world, data-driven perspective on mobile network performance across the globe. With the launch of the Global Network Excellence Index, we introduce a comprehensive ranking system that evaluates countries on mobile infrastructure readiness, user experience, and future connectivity potential.
But how do we measure network excellence?
In this blog, we break down the methodology behind the Index, the key metrics we use, and how we segment markets to provide fair and meaningful comparisons.
What is the Global Network Excellence Index?
The Opensignal Global Network Excellence Index ranks 136 mobile markets in Q4 2024 based on their ability to support next-generation technologies and evolving user demands. Using billions of real-world measurements from smartphone users, this index provides an objective benchmark for assessing mobile network performance globally.
It evaluates countries across three key pillars:
- 4G/5G Availability – The proportion of time users are connected to modern mobile networks, reflecting the accessibility of mobile infrastructure.
- Excellent Consistent Quality (ECQ) – Evaluates how consistently networks support demanding applications such as video streaming, video calls, and gaming, ensuring a seamless user experience.
- 4G and 5G download speeds – The average download speeds our users observe when connected to 4G or 5G (as appropriate). These evaluate the capacity of a country’s networks to support current and future digital demands.
Each country’s overall rank is determined by aggregating its performance across these three pillars. The higher a country ranks in each metric, the better it performs in the overall index.
How We Calculate the Rankings
We want to ensure that our methodology is as transparent as possible, allowing end users to clearly understand how we arrived at the scores. Therefore, the Global Network Excellence Index assigns equal weight to each of the three core pillars: 4G/5G Availability, Excellent Consistent Quality, and 4G and 5G Download Speed (if there are no commercial 5G networks in the market, we assign ⅓ of the weight to 4G instead).
In the case of tied scores, markets share the same rank, and the next rank is skipped (e.g., if two markets tie for 10th place, the next rank is 12th).
Market Segmentation for Fair Comparisons
We recognize the importance of enabling fair comparisons against relevant peers. To ensure meaningful benchmarking, markets are segmented based on geography and economic classification using World Bank data. This segmentation allows countries to be evaluated within their appropriate economic and regional contexts, providing a more accurate assessment of mobile network performance.
Land Area Segmentation
Operating mobile networks across large, sparsely populated areas presents unique challenges. To account for these differences, we classify markets based on land size:
- Large markets – Land area >200,000 km²
- Small markets – Land area <200,000 km²
Source: World Bank Data
Income-Based Segmentation
Network infrastructure investment is closely linked to a country’s economic capacity. We use the World Bank’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita classification to segment countries into:
- Low-income: < $1,145
- Lower-middle-income: $1,145 – $4,515
- Upper-middle-income: $4,515 – $14,005
- High-income: > $14,005
Source: World Bank Data
Regional Segmentation
We recognize that countries want to compare themselves against their geographic neighbors. To facilitate regional benchmarking, we use the World Bank’s regional definitions as follows:
- East Asia & Pacific
- Europe & Central Asia
- Latin America & Caribbean
- Middle East & North Africa
- North America
- South Asia
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Source: World Bank Data
Looking under the hood of Opensignal’s metrics used in the Index
4G/5G Availability - Our ‘4G/5G Availability’ metric shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users had either a 4G or 5G connection. It measures users’ ability to access modern infrastructure that supports a broad array of digital applications and services.
Excellent Consistent Quality - Excellent Consistent Quality measures the extent to which a mobile network was sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that was ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We calculate the percentage of tests that meet or exceed each threshold across the following six KPIs:
- Download throughput: A minimum of 5Mbps, which is essential for smooth HD video streaming without buffering, aligning with recommendations from Netflix (5Mbps for FHD) and YouTube (4-6 Mbps for 1080p streaming)
- Upload throughput: At least 1.5Mbps, supporting video conferencing and media file sharing, aligned with Zoom's minimum recommendation of 1.2Mbps for HD video calls and Microsoft Teams' recommendation of 1.5Mbps for HD video conferencing.
- Latency: Below 50 milliseconds (ms) — above this threshold, it becomes more likely that users will experience delays when using real-time applications like VoIP calls and online gaming.
- Jitter: Jitter measures latency variation, crucial for real-time services like voice and video calls. Even with low average latency, frequent jumps (e.g., 25 ms to 75 ms) cause video artifacts and disruptions. An excellent quality jitter threshold of <12 ms ensures consistently low latency, not just a low average.
- Packet Discard Rate: A low discard rate - below 1% - ensures data integrity, preventing disruptions in video calls and live streaming.
- Time to First Byte (TTFB): A low TTFB (below 0.8 seconds) reduces delays in web browsing and app loading, improving perceived responsiveness.
Success Ratio is another parameter that’s factored into the metric calculation. It measures the percentage of tests that were attempted but could not be completed due to connectivity issues in either the download or server response component.
Handling Markets Without Widespread 5G Deployment
Not every country has a fully developed 5G infrastructure. To ensure fair assessments, we include 5G Download Speed in our rankings only if 5G is widely deployed in that market.
If 5G is not yet widely available, we assign the full 1/3 weight to 4G Download Speed, ensuring a balanced comparison. To determine 5G inclusion, we conduct a thorough analysis taking into account a number of factors:
- Opensignal’s 5G Coverage Experience
- Observed network rollouts among users
- Regulatory announcements on 5G commercialization
A country qualifies for 5G inclusion if our 5G Coverage Experience measure surpasses 6%, indicating a nationwide 5G rollout.
How We Collect Data
Opensignal collects measurements of network experience quality and speed based on both user-initiated and regular periodic tests. The majority of measurements are generated through regularly scheduled periodic tests, executed independently and at random intervals to capture what users are experiencing at a typical moment in time. This approach is recognized as best practice by a number of official bodies, including the FCC in the U.S.
What’s Next?
The Global Network Excellence Index is updated quarterly to reflect the latest network performance trends. As networks evolve, our rankings adapt—ensuring an up-to-date, objective benchmark for mobile infrastructure excellence.
Curious to see how your country ranks? Explore the full Index here.
Read the report that delves into key findings here.
Meet at MWC to learn more.
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