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Our HT (Hrvatski Telekom) users enjoyed the fastest average download speeds of 56.1 Mbps — almost 6 Mbps higher than the speeds experienced with runner-up A1. Telemach significantly lagged behind as our users on its network reported average download speeds of 31.4 Mbps, nearly 20 Mbps lower than those seen with A1. HT secured the award for the Upload Speed Experience as well, with average speeds of 14.2 Mbps — at least 1.5 Mbps (12.2%) faster than the second-placed A1.
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for OTT voice services such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger. Calculated on a scale of 0-100, it characterizes the exact relationship between technical measurements and perceived call quality. In Croatia, A1, HT and Telemach jointly win the award due to a statistical tie. All three operators scored over 80 points and placed in the Good category (80-87). This means many users were satisfied with the quality of OTT voice services, but may have experienced minor quality impairments.
Our users enjoyed the most seamless video experience over A1 and HT’s networks — both operators statistically tied and placed in the Excellent category (75 points or above) — which means our users experienced fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling when watching videos over these operators’ networks. Based on an ITU approach, Video Experience quantifies users’ perceived quality of video streamed to mobile devices on a 100-point scale by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's network. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
Opensignal’s Games Experience analyzes how mobile network conditions — including latency, packet loss and jitter — impact real-time multiplayer gameplay over mobile operators’ networks. It also 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 game genres, examples of popular games of this type include Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor. A1 and HT statistically tied with each other to jointly win the award. Both operators placed in the Good (75-85) category which means that gamers found the gameplay generally controllable, with most users not experiencing delays. With its score of 71.4, Telemach placed in the Fair (65-75) category — which means most users might have felt like they had control over the game but noticed a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Our 4G Availability metric shows the proportion of time users with a 4G device and subscription have an LTE connection. In this category, HT is victorious with a score of 94.2%, ahead of A1 (88.6%) and Telemach (84.5%) — meaning our users were able to tap into HT’s 4G service 94.2% of the time. Another important Opensignal measure of mobile network experience is 4G Coverage Experience — this uses a 10-point scale to reflect how mobile users experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. HT wins this award with a score of 9.0, beating A1 (8.2) and Telemach (7.1).
In Opensignal's first mobile network experience report in Croatia, HT (Hrvatski Telekom) dominates our awards table, securing four outright wins for Download Speed Experience, Upload Speed Experience, 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience. It also jointly wins the remaining three awards. HT shares the Video Experience and Game Experience with A1, while all three operators statistically tie on Voice App Experience and so are joint winners for this award.
5G debuted in Croatia in October 2020, when HT launched its 5G network based on dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) technology. This technology allows the use of existing 4G bands for 5G technology while the bands continue to be available for use by 4G smartphone users at the same time. HT operator contracted Ericsson in June 2020 as its 5G radio access network (RAN) supplier. Notably, the Swedish company also struck a deal in April 2021 to build the 5G network for A1.
HT claimed to have covered one million inhabitants with its 5G footprint in December 2020. While its 5G deployment is based on DSS technology, the operator started testing 5G signal in the 3.5GHz band in March 2021.
The Croatian Postal & Electronic Communications Agency (HAKOM) is yet to assign 5G-capable spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands to mobile operators. The regulator decided to push back the planned 5G tender from 2020 to June 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected operators’ investment plans and caused delays in freeing the 700 MHz band from TV broadcast. HAKOM plans to also include population and transportation coverage obligations for 700 MHz 5G spectrum license holders, to be met in the period of 2025-2027. These timelines are in line with the new National Plan for the Development of Broadband Access, adopted by the Croatian government, that sets objectives for development of fixed and mobile infrastructure in the country between 2021 and 2027.
In this report we have examined the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Croatia: A1, Telemach (recently rebranded from Tele2) and HT over the period of 90 days between December 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. 5G measurements contributed to the overall scores.
| Mobile Experience Awards Croatia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
April 2021,
Croatia Report
|
A
A1
|
H
HT
|
T
Telemach
|
Video Experience
| |||
Games Experience
| |||
Voice App Experience
| |||
Download Speed Experience
| |||
Upload Speed Experience
| |||
4G Availability
| |||
4G Coverage Experience
| |||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
April 2021,
Croatia
|
|---|---|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
H
HT
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
H
HT
|
|
4G Availability
|
H
HT
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
H
HT
|
|
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
|
April 2021, Croatia
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
A
A1
H
HT
|
|
Games Experience
|
A
A1
H
HT
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
A
A1
H
HT
T
Telemach
|
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.
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