Mobile Network Experience Report Colombia January 2019

Colombia

Mobile Network Experience Report
January 2019

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.

Author
Peter Boyland Analyst

Key Findings

Tigo improves to force a draw in 4G Availability

Tigo and Movistar drew in our 4G Availability category, after Tigo increased its score by nearly 4 percentage points to catch up with its rival. But third-placed Claro saw the biggest increase to close the gap.

A 3-way draw in Colombia mobile Video Experience

We recorded a three-way draw in our Video Experience metric, as all three of Colombia's national operators had barely 2 points separating them, with all three scoring a Fair rating.

Tigo pulls further ahead in Download Speed Experience

Tigo increased its Download Speed Experience score by over 1 megabit to grow its lead in this metric, as its rivals saw fairly stagnant growth in their scores.

Movistar some way ahead of its rivals in Upload Speed Experience

Movistar won our Upload Speed Experience award with a score of 4.8 Mbps, over a megabit ahead of its closest rival.

Introduction

Competition remains strong in Colombia's mobile market. In our last State of Mobile Networks report, we saw a fairly close-run race between two of the national operators. But one of these has surged ahead in the past six months to win two of our five mobile experience award categories and draw in two others. We've examined over 445 million measurements from more than 51,000 devices to analyze the networks of Colombia's three national operators: Claro, Movistar and Tigo, including our Video Experience award for the first time. We also measured the operators in Colombia's two largest cities Bogota and Medellin, including analysis of regional operator Avantel.

Opensignal Awards Table

Mobile Experience Awards Colombia
January 2019, Colombia Report
4G Availability
Video Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Latency Experience
Download Image
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
January 2019, Colombia
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Latency Experience
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
January 2019, Colombia
4G Availability
Video Experience
Download Image

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
4G Availability
% of time
Claro
69.2
Movistar
73.7
Tigo
73.3
018.7537.556.2575
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

National Analysis

4G Availability

Tigo puts in a sprint to score a draw in our 4G Availability analysis.

4G Availability
% of time
Claro
69.2
Movistar
73.7
Tigo
73.3
018.7537.556.2575
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

We saw a two-way draw between Movistar and Tigo in 4G Availability, after this category was won outright by Movistar six months ago. Tigo increased its score by nearly 4 percentage points to reach 73% and catch up with its rival. Movistar only saw an incremental increase in its score, while Claro saw the largest growth among Colombia's operators, of over 4 percentage points to reach 69% and close the gap on the leaders.

Video Experience

We saw very little light between the operators in our Video Experience analysis, as we recorded a three-way draw in this metric.

Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Claro
47.4
Movistar
49.1
Tigo
49.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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Video Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Video Experience
65.5 (± 1.27) 62.3 (± 1.50) 63.9 (± 1.93)
3G Video Experience
30.4 (± 2.55) 31.2 (± 2.62) 32.7 (± 2.92)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Video Experience in 0-100 points
66 (± 1.27)
62 (± 1.50)
64 (± 1.93)
3G Video Experience in 0-100 points
30 (± 2.55)
31 (± 2.62)
33 (± 2.92)
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

In our first analysis of Video Experience in our Colombia national reports, we saw a three-way draw between the three operators Claro, Movistar and Tigo. OpenSignal’s Video Experience metric is a first-of-its-kind analysis tool, which uses a range of factors including loading time, video stalling rates and picture resolution, to determine the overall quality of mobile video offered by operators. Video Experience is calculated as a score from 0 to 100 — the higher the score the better the experience — and we saw barely 2 points between the operators in Colombia.

All three of Colombia's operators landed in the Fair range (40-55) of our scale, meaning Video load times are sluggish; stops and stutters mid-stream are common to varying degrees; and connections often have trouble coping with higher-resolution formats. And these scores weren't much better in our 4G-only video experience measurements, meaning the country's operators have some work to do if they are serious about driving consumer video consumption on their networks.

Download Speed Experience

Tigo increased its lead in our Download Speed Experience metric, as both its rivals saw fairly stagnant scores.

Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Claro
9.4
Movistar
10.1
Tigo
11.7
03.757.511.2515
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Download Speed
15.9 (± 0.38) 15.9 (± 0.44) 19.2 (± 0.56)
3G Download Speed
3.4 (± 0.10) 2.1 (± 0.05) 3.2 (± 0.12)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Download Speed in Mbps
16 (± 0.38)
16 (± 0.44)
19 (± 0.56)
3G Download Speed in Mbps
3 (± 0.10)
2 (± 0.05)
3 (± 0.12)
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Tigo kept its crown in our Download Speed Experience analysis, pulling even further ahead of the pack with an increase of over 1 megabit to reach an average speed of 11.7 Mbps. Movistar and Claro's scores have both stayed fairly stagnant since our last report, with Movistar registering 10.1 Mbps followed by Claro on 9.4 Mbps.

Upload Speed Experience

Movistar won our Upload Speed Experience award with a score some way ahead of its rivals.

Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Claro
3.2
Movistar
4.8
Tigo
3.6
01.252.53.755
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Upload Speed
6.2 (± 0.19) 7.9 (± 0.24) 6.4 (± 0.27)
3G Upload Speed
0.4 (± 0.02) 0.6 (± 0.03) 0.4 (± 0.03)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Upload Speed in Mbps
6 (± 0.19)
8 (± 0.24)
6 (± 0.27)
3G Upload Speed in Mbps
0 (± 0.02)
1 (± 0.03)
0 (± 0.03)
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Movistar won our Upload Speed Experience award with a score of nearly 4.8 Mbps, over 1 megabit clear of its nearest rival. Tigo came second with a score of 3.6 Mbps, followed by Claro on 3.2 Mbps. Movistar also saw a considerably higher score in our 4G upload speed measurements with an average speed of 7.9 Mbps compared to its rivals which both scored under 6.5 Mbps.

Latency Experience

Tigo won our Latency Experience award with a score over 10 milliseconds ahead of its rivals.

Latency Experience
in ms The lower the figure the better the latency
Claro
77.8
Movistar
84.1
Tigo
65.3
021.2542.563.7585
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Latency Experience
Additional Metrics
in ms
4G Latency
64.3 (± 0.58) 74.2 (± 1.06) 41.6 (± 0.47)
3G Latency
90.2 (± 1.27) 97.6 (± 2.50) 92.6 (± 2.58)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Latency in ms
64 (± 0.58)
74 (± 1.06)
42 (± 0.47)
3G Latency in ms
90 (± 1.27)
98 (± 2.50)
93 (± 2.58)
Mobile Network Experience Report | January 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

In our Latency Experience category, Tigo won with a score of 65.3ms — over 10ms better than its closest rival Claro who scored 77.8ms in our measurements. Movistar brought up the rear in this category with an average Latency Experience score of 84.1ms. Tigo was also well ahead in our 4G latency analysis with a score over 20ms better than its rivals, but Claro managed to draw with Tigo in our 3G latency measurements.

Regional Analysis

In our analysis of Colombia's two largest cities, Bogota and Medellin, Avantel performed well, winning or drawing six of our 10 regional awards. The regional operator particularly impressed in our Video Experience metric, winning outright in Bogota and drawing with Claro in Medellin. Avantel also won both our Upload Speed Experience and Latency Experience awards and drew in Download Speed Experience in the capital. But the metro operator has fallen a little behind in 4G Availability, after drawing in both Bogota and Medellin six months ago. Avantel has fallen out of the running as Movistar and Tigo shared the spoils in both cities, both passing the 80% milestone in the capital.

Select any region or city below to display individual breakdown

Bogota

4G Availability
in Bogota
% of time
Claro
78.9
Movistar
83.8
Tigo
82.7
Avantel
79.4
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Video Experience
in Bogota
in 0-100 points
Claro
53.7
Movistar
50.9
Tigo
54.1
Avantel
58.2
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Bogota
in Mbps
Claro
9.6
Movistar
10.5
Tigo
12.7
Avantel
11.7
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Bogota
in Mbps
Claro
4.4
Movistar
5.3
Tigo
4.7
Avantel
7.4
Download Image
Latency Experience
in Bogota
in ms
Claro
65.6
Movistar
70.2
Tigo
55.5
Avantel
44.3
Download Image

Medellin

4G Availability
in Medellin
% of time
Claro
74.7
Movistar
82.0
Tigo
78.6
Avantel
71.8
Download Image
Video Experience
in Medellin
in 0-100 points
Claro
58.9
Movistar
47.5
Tigo
49.0
Avantel
52.7
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Medellin
in Mbps
Claro
11.3
Movistar
14.4
Tigo
14.1
Avantel
9.6
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Medellin
in Mbps
Claro
4.6
Movistar
7.1
Tigo
4.4
Avantel
5.4
Download Image
Latency Experience
in Medellin
in ms
Claro
68.0
Movistar
96.0
Tigo
51.1
Avantel
55.0
Download Image
Learn more

Opensignal measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks in the places they live, work and travel.

We continually adapt our methodology to best represent the true experience of smartphone users. Therefore, comparisons of the results to past reports should be considered indicative only.

For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars. In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

More about Methodology

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For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.

In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience