Mobile Network Experience Report Switzerland June 2019

Switzerland

Mobile Network Experience Report
June 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 Senior Analyst

Key Findings

Two Swiss operators pass 90% in 4G Availability

Sunrise held onto our 4G Availability award, increasing its score by over 3 percentage points to reach 92.6%. But Swisscom also saw its score jump by 4 points, as both operators passed the 90% national 4G Availability milestone.

Swisscom puts in a sprint to pass 40 Mbps Download Speed Experience

Swisscom kept hold of our Download Speed Experience award, increasing its score by over 5 Mbps to pull further ahead of its rivals. This speed spurt has made the operator in the country the first in the country to pass the 40 Mbps mark.

Switzerland has a Very Good mobile Video Experience

All three of Switzerland's operators scored in the 65-75 range (out of 100) in our Video Experience measurements, meaning all of them achieved Very Good ratings. This is very impressive, since we hardly ever see Excellent scores (over 75 points) in this metric.

Swisscom leads an impressive pack in Latency Experience

Swisscom won our Latency Experience award with a score almost 4ms ahead of its closest rival. But all three of Switzerland's operators saw Latency Experience scores under 40ms, meaning our users in the country are already enjoying a high level of network responsiveness. And this is set to get better, as one of the key promises of the 5G revolution is huge improvements in latency.

Introduction

Switzerland is currently the European leader in 5G rollout, with two operators having already launched next-generation networks. But what's the current state of the mobile network user experience as the country's 4G networks reach maturity? Switzerland has already shown it is among Europe's leaders across our metrics, and this report is no exception. The market now has two operators with over 90% 4G Availability, while Swisscom's average Download Speed Experience score now exceeds 40 Mbps.

In this report, we've analyzed the mobile network experience of Switzerland's three main operators Salt, Sunrise and Swisscom, over a period of 90 days beginning from February 1, 2019. We've looked at how the operators stack up both at the national level and in the two largest cities, Geneva and Zürich. And as Switzerland's operators launch 5G services, this report offers a benchmark of the country's mobile network experience on the eve of the 5G revolution.

Opensignal Awards Table

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

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
4G Availability
% of time
Sunrise
92.6
Salt
86.5
Swisscom
90.7
023.7547.571.2595
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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National Analysis

4G Availability

Opensignal's users in Switzerland are finding it easier and easier to get a 4G connection. In this report we've seen two operators pass the 90% 4G Availability mark. Sunrise kept hold of our national award in this metric, increasing its score by over 3 percentage points since our last report to bring its 4G Availability to 92.6%. But Swisscom continues to pressure the leader, growing its own 4G Availability score by 4 percentage points to pass 90%.

4G Availability
% of time
Sunrise
92.6
Salt
86.5
Swisscom
90.7
023.7547.571.2595
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

Third-placed operator Salt didn't manage to grow its 4G Availability score by quite as much as its two rivals. An incremental increase in the past six months allowed it to reach 86.5% in our results. But nonetheless, all three of Switzerland's operators are growing their 4G Availability scores — and the country has now joined a fairly elite group where the majority of telcos score over the 90% mark.

Video Experience

Our Video Experience award was shared by Sunrise and Swisscom, with both scoring very close to the 70-point mark (on our scale of 0-100). But runner-up Salt was only just behind the leaders, meaning all three of Switzerland's operators had Very Good scores (65-75) in our Video Experience ratings, which indicates video streamed to smartphones experienced short load times and infrequent stalling, even at higher resolutions.

Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Sunrise
70.0
Salt
68.7
Swisscom
70.5
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
72.1 (± 0.98) 72.0 (± 0.91) 72.9 (± 0.59)
3G Video Experience
50.7 (± 4.66) 48.1 (± 4.99) 51.3 (± 2.65)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Video Experience in 0-100 points
72 (± 0.98)
72 (± 0.91)
73 (± 0.59)
3G Video Experience in 0-100 points
51 (± 4.66)
48 (± 4.99)
51 (± 2.65)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

It seems appropriate that all three of Switzerland's operators received Very Good scores in our overall Video Experience measurements, since there was even less light between their scores in 4G Video Experience. All three operators scored between 72 and 73 points in our LTE-only measurements — a three-way tie statistically. And with these scores at the high-end of the Very Good rating, we could well see some Excellent rankings in Switzerland's 4G Video Experience scores in our next report. Excellent Video Experience scores are very rare indeed, so achieving this rating would reinforce Switzerland's leadership among Europe's mobile markets.

Download Speed Experience

Swisscom won our Download Speed Experience award for the third report in a row, increasing its score by over 5 Mbps to pass the 40 Mbps marker. This sprint saw Swisscom move further ahead of its rivals, as Sunrise’s users experienced speeds nearly 7 Mbps slower than the leader’s, while Salt’s users were over 10 Mbps adrift.

Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Sunrise
33.5
Salt
30.2
Swisscom
40.4
011.2522.533.7545
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Download Speed
36.5 (± 1.04) 34.2 (± 1.01) 44.6 (± 0.96)
3G Download Speed
5.3 (± 0.42) 5.3 (± 0.35) 6.0 (± 0.27)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Download Speed in Mbps
36 (± 1.04)
34 (± 1.01)
45 (± 0.96)
3G Download Speed in Mbps
5 (± 0.42)
5 (± 0.35)
6 (± 0.27)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

The dominance of Swisscom in our download metrics was even more pronounced in our 4G Download Speed measurements, where the operator’s users experienced speeds a clear 8 Mbps faster than its closest rival. Swisscom's average 4G Download Speed score of 44.6 Mbps is pretty exceptional — and speeds in Switzerland are set to become even faster as 5G rolls out across the country, assuming 5G technology delivers the promised real-world speeds.

Upload Speed Experience

Despite Swisscom's strong showing in our download speed metrics, the former incumbent failed to offer a similarly strong national Upload Speed Experience. Here, the award for Upload Speed Experience was shared between Salt and Sunrise. But we were very close to seeing a three-way tie in this metric, with the winners scoring in the 11 Mbps-12 Mbps bracket, while Swisscom was close behind with a score of 10.6 Mbps.

Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Sunrise
12.0
Salt
11.3
Swisscom
10.6
03.757.511.2515
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Upload Speed
13.1 (± 0.43) 12.9 (± 0.42) 11.7 (± 0.29)
3G Upload Speed
1.6 (± 0.15) 1.4 (± 0.12) 2.0 (± 0.12)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Upload Speed in Mbps
13 (± 0.43)
13 (± 0.42)
12 (± 0.29)
3G Upload Speed in Mbps
2 (± 0.15)
1 (± 0.12)
2 (± 0.12)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

The close race was mirrored in our 4G Upload Speed measurements, where both Salt and Sunrise were neck-and-neck with users experiencing average speeds close to 13 Mbps, while Swisscom was a shade behind on 11.7 Mbps. Swisscom was the only operator to show any meaningful growth in this metric, as it increased its 4G Upload Speed score by nearly 1 Mbps since our last report, while the other two operators stayed fairly static.

Latency Experience

Swisscom grabbed our Latency Experience award with a score of 30.8 milliseconds, almost 4ms better than its closest rival. But all three of Switzerland's operators saw Latency Experience scores under 40ms for their users, reflecting a good level of network responsiveness across the board.

Latency Experience
in ms The lower the figure the better the latency
Sunrise
34.4
Salt
37.0
Swisscom
30.8
010203040
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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Latency Experience
Additional Metrics
in ms
4G Latency
32.5 (± 0.39) 34.1 (± 0.49) 29.4 (± 0.21)
3G Latency
52.5 (± 3.06) 55.0 (± 2.11) 42.3 (± 1.20)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Latency in ms
32 (± 0.39)
34 (± 0.49)
29 (± 0.21)
3G Latency in ms
53 (± 3.06)
55 (± 2.11)
42 (± 1.20)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Our Latency Experience metrics are often overlooked in favor of more headline-grabbing measurements like download speed and availability. But latency is becoming increasingly important to the mobile user experience as user habits change, particularly in areas such as online multiplayer gaming, video streaming and live video messaging. And one of the key promises of the 5G revolution — which is already underway in Switzerland — is much lower latency, offering big improvements in the user experience.

Regional Analysis

Switzerland's operators continue to impress in our 4G Availability measurements in the country's two biggest cities. Sunrise scored over 92% in Geneva, but Zürich saw all three operators score over 90%. Switzerland's center of finance now joins an exclusive group of cities where our users are almost always able to connect to a 4G network.

Swisscom truly excelled in Download Speed Experience in Zürich, with its users experiencing an average speed of over 50 Mbps — one of the highest we have ever measured in Europe. But the operator was held to a draw by Sunrise in this metric in Geneva, with both scoring average speeds close to 40 Mbps.

Switzerland's impressive Latency Experience scores were also evidenced in its largest cities, where both Sunrise and Swisscom scored under 30ms in Zürich while Swisscom also passed this mark in Geneva. And while these scores are fairly exceptional on 4G networks, we expect to see huge improvements in latency on Switzerland's new 5G services, opening up a whole range of new possibilities in mobile connectivity.

Select any region or city below to display individual breakdown

Geneva

4G Availability
in Geneva
% of time
Sunrise
92.7
Salt
84.9
Swisscom
87.7
Download Image
Video Experience
in Geneva
in 0-100 points
Sunrise
69.1
Salt
69.8
Swisscom
70.4
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Geneva
in Mbps
Sunrise
40.0
Salt
25.8
Swisscom
38.2
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Geneva
in Mbps
Sunrise
12.9
Salt
11.4
Swisscom
13.2
Download Image
Latency Experience
in Geneva
in ms
Sunrise
35.5
Salt
38.7
Swisscom
29.3
Download Image

Zurich

4G Availability
in Zurich
% of time
Sunrise
91.5
Salt
91.5
Swisscom
90.3
Download Image
Video Experience
in Zurich
in 0-100 points
Sunrise
69.9
Salt
67.9
Swisscom
70.9
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Zurich
in Mbps
Sunrise
42.6
Salt
34.1
Swisscom
52.4
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Zurich
in Mbps
Sunrise
16.8
Salt
15.1
Swisscom
15.9
Download Image
Latency Experience
in Zurich
in ms
Sunrise
29.5
Salt
32.1
Swisscom
28.7
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