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After statistically tying with Vodafone in our last report, Telekom’s Games Experience score held up better under pressure than that of its rival, as while all three operators saw their scores decline, Telekom’s fell by less than Vodafone’s in both absolute and percentage terms and this allowed it to win the award for Games Experience outright. In addition, the gap between second-placed Vodafone and O2 has fallen to just half a point, down from the difference of 3.9 points seen in our previous report.
This report is the second in a row in which Telekom’s Download Speed Experience score and the difference between it and second-placed Vodafone’s score has increased by more than 1 Mbps. This time round, our Telekom users saw their speeds rise by 3.6 Mbps (9.2%), while their counterparts on Vodafone saw theirs increase by 1.8 Mbps (6.7%). As a result, the gap between the two operators has widened by 1.8 Mbps to 14.3 Mbps, after having risen by 1.2 Mbps between our previous two reports. In contrast to the other operators, O2 saw its Download Speed Experience score fall by 0.1 Mbps.
Our O2 users were the only ones to not see a fall in their average overall upload speeds since our last report, instead seeing an increase of 0.2 Mbps (2.2%). In contrast, Telekom and Vodafone’s scores fell by 0.9 Mbps (6.9%) and 0.4 Mbps (4.8%), respectively. As a result, O2 was 3.5 Mbps behind first-placed Telekom instead of the 4.6 Mbps seen in our previous report. The gap between O2’s score and that of last placed Vodafone has increased by 0.6 Mbps to 1.2 Mbps.
O2 was also the only operator where our users haven’t seen a drop in the proportion of time that they spent connected to 4G services since our last report. O2’s 4G Availability score rose by 3.5 percentage points to 84.1%, putting it 3.9 percentage points behind second-placed Vodafone and 6.1 percentage points behind first-placed Telekom. Vodafone and Telekom’s scores fell by 0.4 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively. O2 also saw the most improvement in terms of 4G Coverage Experience, as its score rose by 0.9 points to 9 out of 10, while our Telekom and Vodafone users’ saw theirs rise by 0.2 and 0.4 points to reach 9.6 and 9.4 points, respectively.
Telekom’s has tightened its grip on our awards table since our last report, having successfully defended all the awards that it won outright in our previous report — Video Experience, Download Speed Experience, Upload Speed Experience, 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience — and also winning our Games Experience outright for the first time. The only award to elude its grasp is that for Voice App Experience, which remains in Vodafone’s hands.
Since our May report, our users have seen very different trends across our measures of the mobile experience, with drops across all three operators’ scores for our experiential metrics — Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience — while our Telekom and Vodafone users saw their overall average download speeds improve by 3.6 Mbps and 1.8 Mbps, respectively. All three operators saw their 4G Coverage Experience scores rise by 0.2-0.9 points and our O2 users saw their 4G Availability improve by 3.5 percentage points. This complex picture, coming as it does at an unprecedented time for our users, highlights the importance of having different ways to measure the mobile experience. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on the mobile experience but on the whole it has been very resilient.
The fact O2’s 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience rose the most, is perhaps to be expected given the news — reported in early September — that it has added an extra 4,000 4G cell sites since the start of this year and its need to catch-up with its rivals on both measures of the mobile experience.
As far as our awards table is concerned, there has been only one change since our last report — Telekom has succeeded in winning the Games Experience award outright after having previously tied with Vodafone for it in our last report. Telekom now is the sole holder of six out of seven awards, with the only exception being Voice App Experience, which Vodafone has now held for two reports in a row.
All three operators have now launched 5G services and while O2’s launch has come too late to influence this report’s results, it will be interesting to see how 5G affects the mobile network experience of our German users going forward. O2 launched its 5G network in early October in the country’s five largest cities and quickly expanded its 5G coverage to a further 10, as part of a plan to cover more than 30% of the population by the end of 2021. Back in July, Telekom claimed that its 5G network covered half of Germany’s population.
However, not all the recent news has been about the latest technology, with both Telekom and Vodafone announcing plans to switch off their 3G networks on 30 June 2021. Despite the colossal amount of money paid for 3G spectrum by some operators, the technology no longer has a clear reason to be used — outside of markets in which Voice over LTE penetration (VoLTE) remains low — so in theory freeing up 3G spectrum to provide a better 4G and/or 5G experience and reduce the complexity and running costs from an operators’ perspective makes a great deal of sense.
That said, it is important that operators manage the switch-off in a way that doesn’t inconvenience the large number of people in Germany that still rely on 3G services. According to the German regulator — the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) — by the end of 2019, only 55% of all active non-M2M (machine to machine) SIMs supported 4G, with the remainder being 2G or 3G-only. In an insight we published last year, we found that 81.4% of our users that we have never seen connect to 4G had a 4G-capable phone and spent time in 4G-covered areas, despite our data showing that our 3G-only users have a much worse mobile experience than our 4G users.
In this report we have looked at the 90-day data period from the start of July, and measured the user experience across all our key metrics for Germany's three leading operators — O2, Telekom and Vodafone — both at a national level and in 24 of the country's largest cities. We have used 5G measurements in addition to those from previous generations of mobile network technology when determining the overall scores for each metric.
| Mobile Experience Awards, Germany | |||
|---|---|---|---|
November 2020, Germany Report
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T
Telekom
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V
Vodafone
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O
O2
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Video Experience
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Games Experience
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Voice App Experience
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Download Speed Experience
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Upload Speed Experience
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4G Availability
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4G Coverage Experience
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Mobile Experience Awards Winners
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November 2020, Germany
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|---|---|
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Video Experience
|
T
Telekom
|
|
Games Experience
|
T
Telekom
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
V
Vodafone
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
T
Telekom
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
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T
Telekom
|
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4G Availability
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T
Telekom
|
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4G Coverage Experience
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T
Telekom
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Telekom has won our Video Experience award ever since we first awarded it in our May 2019 report and this report is no exception to this rule. The operator’s lead over second-placed Vodafone has fallen slightly from the 3.7 points seen in our previous report to 3.1 points. This occurred because Telekom’s score has fallen the most — dropping by 2.5 points, compared to the declines of 2 and 0.3 points seen by our users on Vodafone and O2, respectively. Despite our users reporting lower scores than in our previous report, all three operators’ ratings for this measure of the mobile experience are unchanged, with Telekom staying in the Excellent (75 or above) category, while Vodafone and O2 have retained their Very Good ratings (65-75).
|
Video Experience Supporting Metrics |
T
Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
O
O2
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Video Experience
|
76.0 (± 0.14) | 73.1 (± 0.15) | 71.2 (± 0.17) |
|
3G Video Experience
|
63.8 (± 0.80) | 60.8 (± 0.82) | 60.5 (± 0.66) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
76 (± 0.14) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
73 (± 0.15) |
|
O
O2
|
71 (± 0.17) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
64 (± 0.80) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
61 (± 0.82) |
|
O
O2
|
61 (± 0.66) |
More change took place in terms of our two submetrics — 4G Video Experience and 3G Video Experience. With the former, Vodafone dropped down a category, falling from Excellent to Very Good and leaving Telekom as the only operator with an Excellent rating for 4G Video Experience. However, a 7.8 point drop in Telekom’s score for 3G Video Experience pushed it down a rating — from Very Good (65-75) to Good (55-65) — putting it in line with its rivals.
Telekom has successfully broken the statistical tie that existed between its score and that of Vodafone’s in our last report to win our Games Experience award outright. However, this was due to the former’s greater resilience as while our users observed declines in their Games Experience across all three operators when the dust settled Telekom commanded a lead of at least 2.2 points — while Vodafone and O2 statistically tied for second-place. All three operators fell into the Fair (65-75) category, down from the Good (75-85) ratings they received in our last report.
|
Games Experience Supporting Metrics |
T
Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
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O
O2
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|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Games Experience
|
73.2 (± 0.36) | 71.2 (± 0.29) | 72.9 (± 0.28) |
|
3G Games Experience
|
45.4 (± 1.08) | 47.0 (± 1.10) | 46.2 (± 0.72) |
| 4G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
73 (± 0.36) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
71 (± 0.29) |
|
O
O2
|
73 (± 0.28) |
| 3G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
45 (± 1.08) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
47 (± 1.10) |
|
O
O2
|
46 (± 0.72) |
The Games Experience metric quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer 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. 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.
Vodafone continues to hold onto the only award not in Telekom’s hands — Voice App Experience — and its lead is essentially unchanged since our last report, with a difference of 0.4 points separating the two operators’ scores and just 2 points separating Vodafone from last-placed O2. Both our Vodafone and Telekom users saw their Voice App Experience decline by 3.2 points, while our O2 users reported a drop of 4 points. These declines were enough to push all three operators down a category — from Good (80-87) to Acceptable (74-80).
An Acceptable Voice App Experience means that some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments such as clicking sounds of short duration, distortion or insufficiently loud volume. However, listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition.
|
Voice App Experience Supporting Metrics |
T
Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
O
O2
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Voice App Experience
|
78.0 (± 0.16) | 78.4 (± 0.12) | 76.6 (± 0.12) |
|
3G Voice App Experience
|
72.5 (± 0.47) | 73.5 (± 0.42) | 72.2 (± 0.28) |
| 4G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
78 (± 0.16) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
78 (± 0.12) |
|
O
O2
|
77 (± 0.12) |
| 3G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Telekom
|
73 (± 0.47) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
73 (± 0.42) |
|
O
O2
|
72 (± 0.28) |
When we broke the German Voice App Experience down by mobile network technology generation, our Vodafone users observed the highest scores for both 4G Voice App Experience and 3G Voice App Experience — in line with our previous report. Our users reported an Acceptable (74-80) 4G Voice App Experience across all three operators (down from the Good (80-87) rating observed in our last report) and Poor (66-74) ratings for 3G Voice App Experience — down from Acceptable (74-80).
In contrast to our experiential metrics, our Telekom and Vodafone users have seen their Download Speed Experience improve since our last report, with the operators’ scores increasing by 3.6 Mbps (9.2%) and 1.8 Mbps (6.7%), respectively. Our O2 users on the other hand, saw their average overall download speeds fall slightly — by 0.1 Mbps. Telekom has therefore retained the Download Speed Experience award and its lead over second-placed Vodafone has increased by 1.8 Mbps to hit an impressive 14.3 Mbps (51.1%), with our Telekom users reporting average overall download speeds of 42.2 Mbps.
|
Download Speed Experience Supporting Metrics |
T
Telekom
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V
Vodafone
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O
O2
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|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Download Speed
|
43.9 (± 0.34) | 29.1 (± 0.21) | 25.1 (± 0.17) |
|
3G Download Speed
|
6.4 (± 0.10) | 7.8 (± 0.19) | 8.4 (± 0.10) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Telekom
|
44 (± 0.34) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
29 (± 0.21) |
|
O
O2
|
25 (± 0.17) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Telekom
|
6 (± 0.10) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
8 (± 0.19) |
|
O
O2
|
8 (± 0.10) |
Turning to our two submetrics — 4G Download Speed and 3G Download Speed — our Telekom and Vodafone users saw similar changes to their 4G Download Speed scores to those for their overall speeds, but our O2 users saw their average 4G download speeds fall by 1.1 Mbps (4%). However, our O2 users saw the fastest 3G download speeds, as while their speeds have fallen by 0.7 Mbps (8%) since our last report, their counterparts on Telekom saw theirs drop by 4.4 Mbps (40.5%). This means that our Telekom users observed the slowest 3G download speeds, behind those seen by our O2 and Vodafone users by 2 Mbps and 1.4 Mbps, respectively.
In contrast to Download Speed Experience, our O2 users were the only ones to see an increase in their average overall upload speeds, which rose by 0.2 Mbps (2.2%), while those observed by their counterparts on Telekom and Vodafone fell by 0.9 Mbps (6.9%) and 0.4 Mbps (4.8%), respectively. Telekom has retained the Upload Speed Experience award, but its lead over second-placed O2 has fallen by 1.1 Mbps to a still impressive 3.5 Mbps (39.4%).
|
Upload Speed Experience Supporting Metrics |
T
Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
O
O2
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|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Upload Speed
|
12.7 (± 0.08) | 7.8 (± 0.05) | 9.5 (± 0.05) |
|
3G Upload Speed
|
1.8 (± 0.05) | 2.2 (± 0.07) | 1.9 (± 0.03) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Telekom
|
13 (± 0.08) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
8 (± 0.05) |
|
O
O2
|
10 (± 0.05) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Telekom
|
2 (± 0.05) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
2 (± 0.07) |
|
O
O2
|
2 (± 0.03) |
Our users’ average 4G upload speeds are down from those seen in our previous report across all three operators, with scores falling by 0.3-1.2 Mbps, with our Telekom users the most affected and our O2 users the least. Vodafone’s 3G Upload Speed score was up 0.2 Mbps (11.6%) from our previous report, while Telekom’s fell by 0.1 Mbps (7.3%) and O2’s was essentially unchanged.
Telekom has retained the 4G Availability award ever since it won it in our inaugural report on the German mobile network experience and its winning streak has continued in this report. However, our O2 users were the only ones not to spend less time connected to 4G since our last report, with the operator’s score rising by 3.5 percentage points to 84.1%. Our Telekom and Vodafone users saw their 4G Availability fall by 0.1 and 0.4 percentage points respectively. As a result, the gap between second-placed Vodafone and O2 has halved and is now just 3.9 percentage points. Meanwhile, first-placed Telekom’s lead has risen very slightly — by 0.2 percentage points to 2.2 percentage points.
In contrast to 4G Availability, all three operators have seen their 4G Coverage Experience scores improve since our last report, but O2 again saw the largest gains with its score rising by 0.9 points to 9 points, while our Telekom and Vodafone users saw their scores rise by 0.2 and 0.4 points, respectively. While Telekom has won for the second time in a row, Vodafone has cut its lead to 0.2 points. All three operators now have scores of at least 9 points out of 10 and just 0.6 points separate first-placed Telekom from third-placed O2.
Opensignal’s 4G Coverage Experience metric is a measure of how 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 users of all network operators.
In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users–i.e.all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.
Telekom dominated our city-level analysis, winning 68 awards outright out of a possible 144 and the operator was a joint winner for a further 69 awards. Vodafone won only three awards outright but tied for 64; while O2 had the least success, winning just two awards outright and becoming a joint winner across 39 awards.
Telekom performed particularly strongly in Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience, where it came close to a clean sweep for both metrics — the only hold-outs were in Frankfurt am Main where Vodafone won outright on Download Speed Experience, along with Freiburg and Munster where Telekom tied with Vodafone on Download Speed Experience and also on Upload Speed Experience in Munster. Our users’ average overall download speeds were between the eye-wateringly fast 70.4 Mbps seen by our Telekom users in Bonn to the 11 Mbps reported by our O2 users in Saarbrucken. Upload Speed Experience scores ranged from the 19.4 Mbps observed by our Telekom users in Bonn to the 6 Mbps seen by our Vodafone users in Aachen.
4G Availability at the city-level was fiercely contested with only four clear wins across the 24 cites we’ve focused on in this analysis. Interestingly, Telekom did not win a single award outright, but it was a joint winner in 18 cities. Vodafone also tied in 18 cities, but won outright in Berlin and Hamburg. O2 also did well in terms of 4G Availability, winning outright in Duisburg and Essen and tying for first place in a further 15 cities. O2 was the only operator on which our users observed 4G Availability scores below 85%, but only in two cities — Freiburg (77%) and Saarbrucken (83.3%)
Out of our three experiential metrics — Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience, Telekom had by far the most success with Video Experience, as it won outright in 17 cities and statistically tied for first place in a further seven. In addition, our Telekom users had an Excellent Video Experience in all 24 cities. Vodafone and O2 did not win any city-level awards for Video Experience single-handedly, but they were joint-winners in six and two cities, respectively. Vodafone received Excellent ratings for this measure of the mobile experience in 13 cities, and placed in the Very Good category for the remaining 11. Our O2 users observed an Excellent Video Experience in two cities — Hannover and Bremen — a Very Good experience in 21 cities and a Good experience in Freiburg.
Outright wins were few and far between in terms of Games Experience and Voice App Experience —Telekom was the only operator to score any, being the sole winner for Games Experience in five cities (Aachen, Berlin, Bonn, Dortmund and Dresden) and in Dresden and Mannheim for Voice App Experience. Both Telekom and Vodafone racked up 22 joint wins for Voice App Experience, while in Games Experience, Telekom was a joint winner in 19 cities, above the 15 and 16 cities where Vodafone and O2 statistically tied for first place, respectively.
In the majority of cities, our users had a Good Games Experience. There were only three cities in which our Telekom users observed a Fair Games Experience, in contrast to the nine seen by their Vodafone counterparts. Our O2 users had a Fair Games Experience in five cities and a Poor one in Freiburg.
Voice App Experience at the city-level varied from Good to Acceptable. Our Telekom users had a Good Voice App Experience in 17 cities, slightly better than Vodafone’s 16, while our O2 users in all 24 cities had an Acceptable Voice App Experience.
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