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In our first operator-level analysis of how our Indian users experience mobile games while playing over cellular networks, Airtel has come out on top, with a score of 55.6 out of 100. This measure of the mobile experience analyzes how the multiplayer mobile Games Experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter to determine the impact on gameplay. The higher the score, the less likely it is that our users felt that their experience was marred by cellular connectivity issues.
Airtel has won the Video Experience award for the fourth time in a row and this time round it was the only operator to place in the Good (55-65) category for this measure of the mobile experience. Its lead over the second-placed operator — Vi in this report and Vodafone in our previous one — rose from 2.4 points to 3.4 points despite the challenges faced by all operators in 2020.
Jio has kept hold of both the 4G Availability award and the 4G Coverage Experience award — it has won the former ever since we first started reporting on the Indian mobile network experience back in April 2017 and has now won the 4G Coverage Experience award for two reports in a row. That said, Airtel has continued to chip away at its dominance on both measures of the mobile experience.
Airtel has once again won our award for Download Speed Experience, this time with a score of 10.4 Mbps. However, newly created Vi is hard on its heels – our users on the merged Vodafone/Idea network observed average download speeds that were only 0.3 Mbps below those seen by their counterparts on Airtel – down from the lead of 0.6 Mbps that Airtel commanded over Vodafone in our last report.
For the second report in a row, Airtel has won four of our awards outright – Video Experience, Games Experience (instead of Latency Experience which it won in our previous report), Voice App Experience and Download Speed Experience. Similarly, Jio has retained its grip on two awards, namely 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience, while ownership of the Upload Speed Experience award has smoothly passed from Vodafone to Vi.
Vi, created from the merger of Vodafone and Idea, has won the Upload Speed Experience award with a score of 3.5 Mbps — beating second-placed Airtel by 0.7 Mbps (24.7%). The average upload speeds observed by our Vi users were 1.3 Mbps faster than those seen by their Jio counterparts. In our previous report, Vodafone (one of the two operators – the other being Idea – that combined to create Vi), won the Upload Speed Experience award and it cleanly passed on the award to its successor despite the distractions created by the merger and the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the first report in which we have treated Vodafone and Idea as a single operator – Vi – in line with the combined operator’s new branding that was announced on September 7, 2020. We have examined the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in India: Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi, over a period of 90 days beginning May 1, 2020 to see how they fared, and further delved deeper into 49 of India's largest cities, comparing the experience users received on these four operators.
On the 5G front, the news has been mixed recently. For now, 4G is the most important mobile technology for mobile users across India. For example, the auction of 5G spectrum has been delayed until next year, partly due to the sector’s financial difficulties along with value for money concerns. Jio, Airtel and Vi have asked the government to lower the base price for the spectrum
On the other hand, Jio’s sister company, Jio Platforms has developed its own 5G solution and claims that it will be ready for deployment in 2021 which will benefit from the spectrum auction having been concluded. The move to develop its own network equipment has prompted UBS to predict that Jio might be able to deploy its 5G network at a reduced cost compared to its competition .
In addition to the cost of rolling out 5G, there’s also the need for many of the established operators to repay their retrospective dues to the government. While the Supreme Court’s decision to set a 10 year period reduces the immediate financial impact on India’s operators, the risk is that the more money paid to the government under this policy, the harder it will be for India’s operators to invest in the necessary new technologies — such as 5G — to improve the mobile network experience of India’s mobile users.
| Mobile Experience Awards India | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
September 2020,
India Report
|
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
Video Experience
| ||||
Games Experience
| ||||
Voice App Experience
| ||||
Download Speed Experience
| ||||
Upload Speed Experience
| ||||
4G Availability
| ||||
4G Coverage Experience
| ||||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
September 2020,
India
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
A
Airtel
|
|
Games Experience
|
A
Airtel
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
A
Airtel
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
A
Airtel
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
V
Vi
|
|
4G Availability
|
J
Jio
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
J
Jio
|
In addition to Airtel winning the Video Experience award for the fourth time in a row – with a score of 57.6, 3.4 points (6.3%) ahead of second-placed Vi – our Airtel users were the only ones who enjoyed a Good Video Experience (55-65). Vi and Jio had to settle for the next rating down – Fair (40-55) – while BSNL has remained in the Poor category (under 40) for this measure of the mobile experience.
|
Video Experience
Additional Metrics |
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | ||||
|
4G Video Experience
| 57.9 (± 0.05) | 43.1 (± 0.70) | 52.3 (± 0.04) | 57.8 (± 0.08) |
|
3G Video Experience
| 29.2 (± 0.75) | 34.4 (± 0.35) | — | 33.8 (± 0.28) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
58 (± 0.05) |
|
B
BSNL
|
43 (± 0.70) |
|
J
Jio
|
52 (± 0.04) |
|
V
Vi
|
58 (± 0.08) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
29 (± 0.75) |
|
B
BSNL
|
34 (± 0.35) |
|
J
Jio
|
— |
|
V
Vi
|
34 (± 0.28) |
While Airtel’s lead increased slightly — up one point or 2.1 percentage points from our last report — not everything has gone its way. Our users of the three operators that we reported across this report and the last (which excludes Vi and the operators that merged to create it), all observed modest declines in their Video Experience (1.5% to 2.3%), likely due to headwinds from the challenges everyone has experienced in 2020 due to the COVID crisis and the resulting changes in user behavior.
This is the first time that Opensignal has assessed how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming across different operators in India. Airtel came out on top and won the Opensignal Games Experience award with a score of 55.6 out of a possible 100, ahead of newly merged Vi in second place.
|
Games Experience
Additional Metrics |
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | ||||
|
4G Games Experience
| 56.3 (± 0.07) | 39.1 (± 0.10) | 50.1 (± 0.06) | 62.8 (± 0.09) |
|
3G Games Experience
| 33.8 (± 0.15) | 36.7 (± 0.07) | — | 35.9 (± 0.06) |
| 4G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
56 (± 0.07) |
|
B
BSNL
|
39 (± 0.10) |
|
J
Jio
|
50 (± 0.06) |
|
V
Vi
|
63 (± 0.09) |
| 3G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
34 (± 0.15) |
|
B
BSNL
|
37 (± 0.07) |
|
J
Jio
|
— |
|
V
Vi
|
36 (± 0.06) |
Measured on a scale of 0-100, Opensignal’s Games Experience metric quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Airtel has come top for Voice App Experience for the second report in a row, with a score of 75.5 out of 100. Both its score and the size of its lead — 1.1 points (1.4%) — have remained essentially unchanged since our last report, when Idea (now part of Vi) was placed second. Similarly little change has taken place from a category perspective, with Airtel retaining an Acceptable (74-80) rating, while our users on Jio’s and BSNL’s networks have continued to observe a Poor (66-74) Voice App Experience. Vi’s first score for this metric places it in the Acceptable category, alongside Airtel.
An Acceptable rating means that some of our users experienced perceptible call quality impairments. Short duration of clicking sounds or distortion were heard, and/or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. However, they were generally able to comprehend without repetition. A Poor rating indicates that many users were dissatisfied and experienced call quality impairments. Distortion, clicking sounds or silence were experienced during their calls, which was perceptible and may have been annoying.
|
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics |
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | ||||
|
4G Voice App Experience
| 75.6 (± 0.03) | 67.9 (± 0.27) | 73.4 (± 0.03) | 76.2 (± 0.03) |
|
3G Voice App Experience
| 62.4 (± 0.36) | 66.0 (± 0.18) | — | 64.5 (± 0.14) |
| 4G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
76 (± 0.03) |
|
B
BSNL
|
68 (± 0.27) |
|
J
Jio
|
73 (± 0.03) |
|
V
Vi
|
76 (± 0.03) |
| 3G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
A
Airtel
|
62 (± 0.36) |
|
B
BSNL
|
66 (± 0.18) |
|
J
Jio
|
— |
|
V
Vi
|
65 (± 0.14) |
Opensignal’s Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. The measure uses a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-based approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality.
Airtel has retained the top spot on Download Speed Experience for the sixth report in a row with a score of 10.4 Mbps. However, its lead has shrunk, with 0.3 Mbps (3.5%) separating it from second-placed Vi — compared with the lead of 0.6 Mbps (6%) it commanded over Vodafone’s score in our previous report. The average download speeds observed by our Airtel users rose by 0.3 Mbps to 10.4 Mbps, while those seen by our Jio users declined by 0.4 Mbps to fall below 7 Mbps. BSNL’s Download Speed Experience score fell by 0.2 Mbps compared with that in our last report to 2.7 Mbps.
|
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | ||||
|
4G Download Speed
| 10.5 (± 0.02) | 4.3 (± 0.07) | 6.9 (± 0.01) | 11.3 (± 0.02) |
|
3G Download Speed
| 2.3 (± 0.04) | 2.7 (± 0.02) | — | 3.0 (± 0.02) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
A
Airtel
|
11 (± 0.02) |
|
B
BSNL
|
4 (± 0.07) |
|
J
Jio
|
7 (± 0.01) |
|
V
Vi
|
11 (± 0.02) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
A
Airtel
|
2 (± 0.04) |
|
B
BSNL
|
3 (± 0.02) |
|
J
Jio
|
— |
|
V
Vi
|
3 (± 0.02) |
When we break down Download Speed Experience by mobile technology generation, our Vi users observed the highest 4G and 3G average download speeds, indicating that the lower amount of time Vi users spend connected to 4G is a big factor on Vi users overall Download Experience position relative to Airtel.
Vi has comfortably won the Upload Speed Experience award with a score of 3.5 Mbps — 0.7 Mbps (24.7%) ahead of second-placed Airtel. This is not surprising, given the extent to which the operators that merged to create Vi — Vodafone and Idea — dominated this measure of the mobile experience in our last report. The combined operator’s score is also 56.1% higher than that of Jio’s and 4.3 times higher than that of BSNL’s. Meanwhile, our Airtel and Jio users observed declines of 0.1 Mbps (3.8%) and 0.3 Mbps (11.8%), respectively, in their average overall upload speeds.
|
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
A
Airtel
|
B
BSNL
|
J
Jio
|
V
Vi
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | ||||
|
4G Upload Speed
| 2.9 (± 0.01) | 1.7 (± 0.03) | 2.3 (± 0.00) | 4.0 (± 0.01) |
|
3G Upload Speed
| 0.5 (± 0.01) | 0.8 (± 0.01) | — | 0.9 (± 0.01) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
A
Airtel
|
3 (± 0.01) |
|
B
BSNL
|
2 (± 0.03) |
|
J
Jio
|
2 (± 0.00) |
|
V
Vi
|
4 (± 0.01) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
A
Airtel
|
0 (± 0.01) |
|
B
BSNL
|
1 (± 0.01) |
|
J
Jio
|
— |
|
V
Vi
|
1 (± 0.01) |
Breaking our users’ Upload Speed Experience down by mobile technology generation, again our Vi users observed the fastest average upload speeds on both 4G and 3G networks — their average 4G upload speed of 4.0 Mbps was an impressive 1.2 Mbps above that seen by their Airtel counterparts. Meanwhile, our BSNL users observed faster 3G upload speeds than their counterparts on Airtel.
Jio once again has romped home to victory on 4G Availability. However, while the average proportion of time that our Jio users spent connected to 4G has increased by 0.5 of a percentage point since our last report to reach an impressive 98.7%, Airtel saw its score increase by 1.1 percentage points. As a consequence, Jio’s lead has dropped from 3.7 percentage points to 3.1.
While these improvements are relatively modest when compared against the roughly six percentage point increases seen by our Airtel, Vodafone and Idea users in our previous report, they are still remarkable given the recent disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jio has won our 4G Coverage Experience award for the second time in a row, with a score of 9.3 out of 10. However, as with 4G Availability, second-placed Airtel outpaced Jio with its improvement since our last report. Airtel’s score rose by 0.4 points compared with Jio’s 0.1, causing Jio’s lead to drop from 2.4 (34.7%) to 2.1 (29.3%). Shifting our attention further down the table, while Vi has benefited significantly from its merger given that its score of 5.9 compares favorably against the scores of 4.0 and 4.5 observed previously by our Vodafone and Idea users respectively in our previous report, their combined score is still 1.3 points behind that of Airtel’s and 3.4 points behind Jio’s.
Opensignal’s 4G Coverage Experience metric is a measure of how our mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by Opensignal users of all network operators.
In our regional analysis of 49 cities, we saw Airtel come close to challenging Jio’s dominance on 4G Availability in a majority of the cities although Jio continued to win almost all awards. However, as a result of the close results Jio did not make a clean sweep in 4G Availability: while Jio won in 48 cities outright it drew for the first place with Airtel in Coimbatore. Our users on Airtel’s network, on average, were able to connect to 4G services more than 95% of the time in 42 cities, while their Jio counterparts in Rajkot continue to enjoy the highest 4G Availability of 99.3% in a city.
In line with the national awards, Airtel dominated the regional Video Experience. Our Airtel users observed a Good Video Experience in 31 cities and a superior — Very Good — Video Experience in seven cities that include Tier 2 cities like Coimbatore (65.9), Vadodara (66.6) and Dhanbad (66.8). A Very Good Video Experience means generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling while streaming videos online on a smartphone.
Airtel won the majority of our regional Voice App Experience awards, despite the tight competition in this category. It was noteworthy that users on its network in Ahmedabad and Vadodara were the only ones to have perceived a Good Voice App Experience, on average, which means many users were satisfied, and only some users experienced minor quality impairments while using OTT Voice App services. This was also the case in regional Games Experience: Airtel won outright in 22 cities, tied with both Vi and Jio in five cities and tied with just Vi in four other cities.
In our analysis of regional speed metrics, we saw Airtel and Vi come neck-and-neck in 11 cities for Download Speed Experience and five for Upload Speed Experience. Our Airtel users in Hyderabad clocked the fastest regional Download Speed Experience of 14.5 Mbps — almost 40% faster than the national average. On the other hand, our Vi users saw the fastest regional Upload Speed Experience of 6.1 in Guwahati.
Select any region or city below to display individual breakdown
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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