Mobile Network Experience Report Portugal February 2020

Portugal

Mobile Network Experience Report
February 2020

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
Sam Fenwick Senior Analyst

Key Findings

Vodafone dominates Opensignal’s awards

Vodafone continues to be the dominant operator in Portugal, winning six out of seven awards and holding the distinction of being the first operator in the country where our users on its network were able to latch onto a 4G signal more than 90% of the time. Our Portuguese users also observed average download speeds in excess of 30 Mbps for the first time on Vodafone’s network. The operator continues to command a formidable lead in terms of both Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience — although this has eroded in percentage terms since our last report with MEO and NOS gaining ground in Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience, respectively. That said, our users are seeing average download and upload speeds on Vodafone that are 32% and 27% greater than those seen on the next best-performing operator’s network.

Video Experience hits Excellent for Vodafone, nears it for NOS and MEO

Vodafone won our Video Experience award and jumped into the Excellent category (75-100) with a score of 76.9 points — an improvement of 4.4 points in six months. This means that our users on its network now enjoy fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling even at higher resolutions. That said, we saw improvements across the board, as NOS and MEO both increased their scores by more than 5 points ending up with a Very Good rating. Both operators are neck-and-neck and may well earn an Excellent rating in our next report, if they retain their current rate of progress.

MEO makes great strides in download speeds

Our MEO users observed an impressive 4.3 Mbps increase in Download Speed Experience in the last six months, increasing MEO’s hold on the No 2. spot for this metric. The operator’s score for 4G Availability also rose by a commendable 4.8 percentage points and is now above 80% for the first time. However, the experience observed by our users on its network still puts it firmly in third place for Upload Speed Experience, Latency Experience, and 4G Availability.

Portugal’s network experience shows improvement in nearly all metrics

While in some categories progress has been incremental since our last report, all three operators have seen nearly all their scores improve, with the only exception being a 1.4ms increase in Latency Experience on Vodafone’s network. Users on all three operators are now seeing 4G Availability in excess of 80%, with Vodafone reaching the 90% mark for the first time and NOS only 1.2 percentage points away from doing so. Portugal also now has two operators where users have average observed latencies of less than 40ms and if MEO continues its current rate of progress, that number could rise to three in our next report.

Portuguese operators offer consistency in Voice App Experience

Our first look at Voice App Experience in Portugal shows that users on all three operators are having a Good experience, which means that many users are satisfied although some may experience minor quality impairments, with occasional clicking sounds or distortion. Opensignal’s new, first-of-its-kind Voice App Experience metric measures the experience of Opensignal users on apps like WhatsApp, Skype, and Facebook.

Introduction

In our latest report on the Portuguese mobile market, we've analyzed the mobile network experience over a period of 90 days from September 1 to November 29, 2019, to see how the country's three national operators (MEO, NOS, and Vodafone) measure up.

It only takes a glance at the results to see that Vodafone dominates Portugal’s mobile network experience, especially in 4G Availability, Download Speed Experience, and Video Experience where the operator achieved new milestones. That said, we saw some impressive improvements from its rivals too. In 4G Availability, MEO’s score has improved by 4.8 percentage points, placing it above the 80% mark for the first time while NOS edged towards 90%. We also saw the biggest gains from MEO in the Download Speed Experience and Video Experience categories.

Opensignal Awards Table

Mobile Experience Awards Portugal
February 2020, Portugal Report
Video Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Latency Experience
4G Availability
4G Coverage Experience
Download Image
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
February 2020, Portugal
Video Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Latency Experience
4G Availability
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
February 2020, Portugal
4G Coverage Experience
Download Image

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Vodafone
76.9
NOS
72.8
MEO
72.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

National Analysis

Video Experience

Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Vodafone
76.9
NOS
72.8
MEO
72.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Video Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Video Experience
80.0 (± 0.22) 75.5 (± 0.44) 77.1 (± 0.33)
3G Video Experience
60.1 (± 1.36) 56.8 (± 1.67) 57.5 (± 1.47)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Video Experience in 0-100 points
80 (± 0.22)
75 (± 0.44)
77 (± 0.33)
3G Video Experience in 0-100 points
60 (± 1.36)
57 (± 1.67)
58 (± 1.47)
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Inc.

Voice App Experience

Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
Vodafone
82.6
NOS
81.7
MEO
80.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Voice App Experience
83.6 (± 0.17) 82.7 (± 0.26) 82.3 (± 0.22)
3G Voice App Experience
77.0 (± 0.72) 76.0 (± 1.02) 73.7 (± 0.87)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Voice App Experience in 0-100 points
84 (± 0.17)
83 (± 0.26)
82 (± 0.22)
3G Voice App Experience in 0-100 points
77 (± 0.72)
76 (± 1.02)
74 (± 0.87)
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Inc.

Download Speed Experience

Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Vodafone
31.6
NOS
19.7
MEO
24.0
08.7517.526.2535
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Download Speed
36.3 (± 0.38) 22.0 (± 0.31) 28.6 (± 0.34)
3G Download Speed
5.8 (± 0.13) 6.1 (± 0.19) 7.5 (± 0.18)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Download Speed in Mbps
36 (± 0.38)
22 (± 0.31)
29 (± 0.34)
3G Download Speed in Mbps
6 (± 0.13)
6 (± 0.19)
8 (± 0.18)
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Inc.

Upload Speed Experience

Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Vodafone
11.3
NOS
8.9
MEO
7.5
03.757.511.2515
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Upload Speed
13.0 (± 0.15) 10.1 (± 0.16) 9.2 (± 0.13)
3G Upload Speed
1.8 (± 0.06) 1.7 (± 0.07) 1.5 (± 0.05)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Upload Speed in Mbps
13 (± 0.15)
10 (± 0.16)
9 (± 0.13)
3G Upload Speed in Mbps
2 (± 0.06)
2 (± 0.07)
1 (± 0.05)
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Inc.

Latency Experience

Latency Experience
in ms The lower the figure the better the latency
Vodafone
37.7
NOS
38.3
MEO
43.1
011.2522.533.7545
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Latency Experience
Additional Metrics
in ms
4G Latency
36.0 (± 0.20) 36.7 (± 0.21) 40.4 (± 0.24)
3G Latency
47.3 (± 0.58) 48.4 (± 0.82) 52.8 (± 0.82)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Latency in ms
36 (± 0.20)
37 (± 0.21)
40 (± 0.24)
3G Latency in ms
47 (± 0.58)
48 (± 0.82)
53 (± 0.82)
Mobile Network Experience Report | February 2020 | © Opensignal Inc.

4G Availability

4G Availability
% of time
Vodafone
91.1
NOS
88.8
MEO
81.9
023.7547.571.2595
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

4G Coverage Experience

4G Coverage Experience
in 0-10 points
Vodafone
9.0
NOS
8.9
MEO
8.9
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
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