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Vodafone kept our 4G Availability award, with an increase of nearly 5 percentage points to reach 86.9%. All five of Italy's national operators saw significant increases in their 4G Availability scores, with newcomer Iliad showing the biggest increase of nearly 10 percentage points.
New entrant Iliad has gained close to 3 million users since its launch a year ago, and it's catching up with its closest rivals in many of our metrics. This fresh competition means it’s more vital than ever that Italy's operators highlight their ability to provide a great mobile network experience and the value they offer consumers — even if they can't beat Iliad on price.
TIM increased its Download Speed Experience score by 8% to overtake Vodafone, which saw little change in its score over the past six months. But Italy's other three operators 3, Iliad and Wind all saw double-digit percentage increases in their scores to close the gap on the leaders.
TIM kept hold of our Video Experience award, as all five operators showed improvements of at least 8% in their scores. Both TIM and Vodafone's scores are now in our Very Good category, meaning a mobile Video Experience characterized by short load times and infrequent stalling, even at higher resolutions.
We saw some impressive scores in Italy's biggest cities, with 4G Availability over 90% for at least one operator in most of the seven metros we analyzed, while three cities had Excellent Video Experience ratings and two had Download Speed Experience scores over 40 Mbps. We expect to see similar scores at a national level soon, as Italy comes close to joining an elite group of countries in mobile network experience.
Over the past couple of years we've seen something of a two-horse race develop in the Italian mobile network experience. But our latest analysis shows one operator has emerged as a market leader. TIM has won four out of five of our national awards in this report, including an impressive sprint in Download Speed Experience to steal the glory from Vodafone. But we've seen some encouraging improvements across many of our metrics from all of Italy's operators — particularly from new-kid-on-the-block Iliad, which has rapidly established itself as a strong competitor.
For this report we've analyzed the mobile experience in Italy over the 90 days from the start of January 2019 for the five national operators 3 Italia, Iliad, TIM, Vodafone and Wind, at a national level as well as in Italy's seven largest cities.
The merger of 3 Italia and Wind was approved in 2016, but the two brands continue to market services separately so we will treat them as two individual operators in this report. However, any reduction in competition levels from the consolidation of Wind Tre has been effectively cancelled out by the entry of Iliad, which has disrupted the market with its low-cost, no frills offerings, amassing an impressive 2.8 million subscribers since its launch just under a year ago.
| Mobile Experience Awards Italy | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 2019,
Italy Report
|
V
Vodafone
|
W
Wind
|
3
3 ITA
|
T
TIM
|
I
Iliad
|
4G Availability
| |||||
Video Experience
| |||||
Download Speed Experience
| |||||
Upload Speed Experience
| |||||
Latency Experience
| |||||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
May 2019,
Italy
|
|---|---|
|
4G Availability
|
V
Vodafone
|
|
Video Experience
|
T
TIM
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
T
TIM
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
T
TIM
|
|
Latency Experience
|
T
TIM
|
Vodafone held onto our 4G Availability award, increasing its score by just under 5 percentage points since our last report. But this increase was actually the smallest of all Italy's five national operators in our measurements. Both 3 and Wind grew their 4G Availability scores by close to 7 percentage points, and new player Iliad showed the most impressive increase of nearly 10 points.
4G Availability is on the up in Italy. Vodafone has passed the 85% mark while the country now has four operators with scores over 75%. As LTE becomes more ubiquitous, the country is turning its attention to 5G. Following last year's 5G spectrum auction, TIM and Vodafone have announced a limited 5G network-sharing deal, as TIM plans a commercial launch before the end of 2019. The merged Wind Tre also plans to launch 5G this year (although it has provided few details so far), while newcomer Iliad is starting to prepare its network for the next generation of mobile technology.
TIM managed to hold onto our Video Experience award — but only just. There was less than 1 point separating TIM's score of 69.9 (out of 100) and Vodafone's 69.1, after Vodafone saw its score jump by over 14% since our last look at Video Experience in Italy. TIM also saw its score increase by close to 9% in the past six months, as both operators moved up to a Very Good rating, which is characterized by video streamed to smartphones experiencing short load times and infrequent stalling, even at higher resolutions.
|
Video Experience
Additional Metrics |
V
Vodafone
|
W
Wind
|
3
3 ITA
|
T
TIM
|
I
Iliad
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||||
|
4G Video Experience
| 71.8 (± 0.28) | 66.4 (± 0.38) | 69.5 (± 0.46) | 73.2 (± 0.26) | 62.9 (± 0.38) |
|
3G Video Experience
| 53.3 (± 0.90) | 44.7 (± 0.84) | 48.3 (± 0.84) | 54.6 (± 0.86) | 45.0 (± 0.85) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
V
Vodafone
|
72 (± 0.28) |
|
W
Wind
|
66 (± 0.38) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
69 (± 0.46) |
|
T
TIM
|
73 (± 0.26) |
|
I
Iliad
|
63 (± 0.38) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
V
Vodafone
|
53 (± 0.90) |
|
W
Wind
|
45 (± 0.84) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
48 (± 0.84) |
|
T
TIM
|
55 (± 0.86) |
|
I
Iliad
|
45 (± 0.85) |
We've seen the greatest increases in Video Experience among 3's and Wind's users, with a jump of 18% and 23% in the past 6 months respectively as they close the gap on leaders TIM and Vodafone. There was barely 2 points separating 3, Iliad and Wind, with all three scoring around 60 (out of 100). Those three operators were nearly 9 points behind TIM and Vodafone with scores in our Good rating bracket, meaning a less consistent Video Experience, especially at higher resolutions.
Italy hasn't fared quite so well in Video Experience compared with its European neighbours. In our European analysis in the autumn, Italy was close to the bottom of the table, behind much smaller markets including Serbia and Greece. And when we recently compared Video Load Times in Europe's rugby capitals in honor of the 6 Nations championship, Rome was well into the lower half of the table (although it did beat Paris and London). But Video Experience in Italy is showing some encouraging signs of improvement across all five of the country's operators.
We saw the most impressive win of this report in our Download Speed Experience metric, as TIM stormed into the lead to grab the glory from Vodafone. TIM put in an impressive sprint of 2 Mbps to overtake Vodafone, whose own Download Speed Experience score has stayed almost unchanged over the past six months. But competition between the two remains high, with less than 1 Mbps separating their scores in our measurements.
|
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
V
Vodafone
|
W
Wind
|
3
3 ITA
|
T
TIM
|
I
Iliad
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||||
|
4G Download Speed
| 28.3 (± 0.26) | 20.0 (± 0.23) | 21.6 (± 0.29) | 29.6 (± 0.26) | 20.1 (± 0.23) |
|
3G Download Speed
| 5.0 (± 0.09) | 5.4 (± 0.09) | 6.6 (± 0.10) | 7.3 (± 0.13) | 5.7 (± 0.09) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
V
Vodafone
|
28 (± 0.26) |
|
W
Wind
|
20 (± 0.23) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
22 (± 0.29) |
|
T
TIM
|
30 (± 0.26) |
|
I
Iliad
|
20 (± 0.23) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
V
Vodafone
|
5 (± 0.09) |
|
W
Wind
|
5 (± 0.09) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
7 (± 0.10) |
|
T
TIM
|
7 (± 0.13) |
|
I
Iliad
|
6 (± 0.09) |
While notable, TIM's leapfrog wasn't the highest increase we saw in our Download Speed Experience scores. Wind boosted its score by an impressive 32%, while Iliad's total rose by 25% and 3's grew by 12%. In our last report we saw two distinct tiers of download speed in Italy, with the lower three operators' scores barely half that of the two leaders TIM and Vodafone. 3, Iliad and Wind remain some way behind the top two — but they are closing the gap as the disparity in Download Speed Experience among Italy's operators abates.
TIM also topped our 4G Download Speed table, as Vodafone's score actually fell slightly since our last report. An incremental increase in TIM's score saw it overtake Vodafone in both our 4G Download Speed and overall Download Speed Experience measurements, despite Vodafone's slight advantage in 4G Availability.
TIM won our Upload Speed Experience race by a nose, with a score of 8.6 Mbps narrowly beating Vodafone's 8.4 Mbps. Italy's other three operators were some way behind the leaders, with 3, Iliad and Wind's scores all falling in the 6-7 Mbps bracket.
|
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
V
Vodafone
|
W
Wind
|
3
3 ITA
|
T
TIM
|
I
Iliad
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||||
|
4G Upload Speed
| 9.6 (± 0.11) | 9.2 (± 0.10) | 9.6 (± 0.13) | 10.1 (± 0.11) | 7.8 (± 0.10) |
|
3G Upload Speed
| 1.3 (± 0.04) | 1.3 (± 0.03) | 1.6 (± 0.03) | 1.6 (± 0.04) | 1.2 (± 0.03) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
V
Vodafone
|
10 (± 0.11) |
|
W
Wind
|
9 (± 0.10) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
10 (± 0.13) |
|
T
TIM
|
10 (± 0.11) |
|
I
Iliad
|
8 (± 0.10) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
V
Vodafone
|
1 (± 0.04) |
|
W
Wind
|
1 (± 0.03) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
2 (± 0.03) |
|
T
TIM
|
2 (± 0.04) |
|
I
Iliad
|
1 (± 0.03) |
TIM also led in our 4G Upload Speed metric, increasing its score by 8% in the last six months to pass the 10 Mbps mark. Once again, we saw little growth from Vodafone in 4G Upload Speed measurements, while Wind saw the greatest increase of over 1 Mbps.
TIM won our Latency Experience award with a slightly more comfortable margin than we saw in our speed and video categories. Its score was over 7% better than its closest rival Vodafone, while the other three operators were some way behind the two leaders. In fact, we saw three distinct groups in Latency Experience: TIM and Vodafone scored around the 40 millisecond mark; 3 and Wind were close to 60ms, while Iliad was even further behind on 76ms.
|
Latency Experience
Additional Metrics |
V
Vodafone
|
W
Wind
|
3
3 ITA
|
T
TIM
|
I
Iliad
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in ms | |||||
|
4G Latency
| 39.9 (± 0.18) | 50.9 (± 0.23) | 58.1 (± 0.29) | 36.7 (± 0.17) | 71.6 (± 0.19) |
|
3G Latency
| 57.6 (± 0.74) | 74.8 (± 0.68) | 69.8 (± 0.53) | 53.4 (± 0.58) | 88.4 (± 0.61) |
| 4G Latency | in ms |
|
V
Vodafone
|
40 (± 0.18) |
|
W
Wind
|
51 (± 0.23) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
58 (± 0.29) |
|
T
TIM
|
37 (± 0.17) |
|
I
Iliad
|
72 (± 0.19) |
| 3G Latency | in ms |
|
V
Vodafone
|
58 (± 0.74) |
|
W
Wind
|
75 (± 0.68) |
|
3
3 ITA
|
70 (± 0.53) |
|
T
TIM
|
53 (± 0.58) |
|
I
Iliad
|
88 (± 0.61) |
Latency is essentially a measure of network responsiveness — meaning the lower the score, the better. Often ignored in favor of our more headline-grabbing speed and availability metrics, latency is becoming increasingly important as smartphones and data connections become ubiquitous and user habits change. Good latency is key to a host of mobile applications and services, from web browsing to voice over IP to real-time multiplayer gaming.
The race for 4G Availability is heating up at the national level, and this was definitely reflected in Italy's cities. Of the seven metropoles we analyzed, we recorded draws in every one except Rome (which was won by Vodafone). We also recorded 4G Availability scores of over 90% on at least one operator's network in five out of the seven cities — with Milan worthy of a special mention, as four operators have passed the 90% milestone in the fashion capital.
We saw a similarly close race in Download Speed Experience in Italy's biggest cities, as the spoils were shared between the two leaders. Both TIM and Vodafone won in two cities each, while we saw ties in the remaining three. The two operators both passed the 40 Mbps Download Speed Experience milestone in Bologna, but the highest average speed we recorded was a hugely impressive 43.7 Mbps on TIM's network in Turin.
TIM's dominance in Latency Experience at a national level carried over into Italy's cities, as the operator came top in six out of seven, drawing with Vodafone in Turin. But TIM has yet to crack the 30ms milestone in Latency Experience, despite coming within 0.1ms of this mark in Milan. And TIM led the pack in Video Experience, coming top in Bologna, Milan and Turin, and passing the 75 point mark in all three cities to gain an Excellent rating.
Select any region or city below to display individual breakdown
Note on methodology for this report: During preparation of the data a small number of measurements were identified where it was not possible to determine if the device was connected to a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), or a major network operator. These measurements were confirmed to have no material impact on the analysis and results, and were therefore removed in accordance with the principles of our Analytics charter.
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
Opensignal is the mobile analytics company committed to improving mobile connectivity across the globe. We are the independent authority for understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.
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