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With an average speed of 48.6 Mbps, our Orange users experienced much faster speeds than using any other operator. SFR and Free Mobile are a long way behind in second place with scores of 30.8 Mbps and 30.4 Mbps respectively, with Bouygues trailing on 27.5 Mbps. Orange has increased its winning margin from the last report by approximately 1.7 Mbps. Notably, all four operators recorded higher Download Speed Experience scores, although Orange saw the biggest increase rising from 42.8 Mbps last time to 48.6 Mbps now.
Orange's Video Experience score has increased to 76.3 up from 73.7 in the last report, meaning that it has moved from Very Good (65-75 on a 100 point scale) into the Excellent category (75 or above). This result means users had a very consistent experience with fast loading times and non-existent stalling. The Video Experience on Bouygues, SFR and Free Mobile rated as Very Good by comparison. Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices using an ITU-based approach that connects technical measurements of real-world video streams to users' perceived video experience.
In Opensignal's remaining experiential awards — which quantify the multiplayer gaming experience and communication using over-the-top voice apps such as Whatsapp or Skype — Orange wins both awards outright. For Games Experience Orange scored 70.1 ahead of SFR's score of 64, Bouygues' 63.5 and Free Mobile's 62.7. On Voice App Experience, there is little difference between Bouygues, Free Mobile and SFR as they scored 78.3, 78 and 78.7 respectively, but Orange is clearly ahead with 80.3 on the 100 point scale.
The only category Orange does not win is 4G Availability which represents the time users spend connected to a 4G service. While 5G has launched in France, the type of 5G that operators have deployed to date — non-standalone access — requires a smartphone connection to 4G for 5G to operate. Therefore, a win for 4G Availability indicates Bouygues and SFR have a stronger 4G foundation for their 5G services than their rivals. However, Opensignal users connect to 4G in the most locations with Orange, and Orange wins the Opensignal 4G Coverage Experience award with a score of 8.8 on a 10 point scale.
Mobile network experience continues to be dominated by Orange as it wins all but one of Opensignal's awards in this report. However, the arrival of 5G opens opportunities for other operators to jump ahead with their mobile experience by using the latest mobile technology and brand new 5G spectrum capacity.
France was one of the last countries in Western Europe to launch 5G services at the end of 2020. In this report, we include measurements from French 5G users in our awards.
In other countries, we have seen 5G enable an enormous improvement in mobile experience compared with existing 4G services. However, there are ongoing concerns in France over the potential adverse effects of 5G on health , which threaten to delay this improvement in mobile experience from reaching French mobile users. Yet in markets with considerably more 5G deployed these issues have not been seen or proven and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that exposure to wireless technologies showed no causal links to negative impact on human health. Fortunately, despite the concerns expressed in France, the national health and safety agency Anses, has found no health risks around 5G in France either.
In France, there have also been unsubstantiated concerns that 5G will worsen greenhouse emissions. However, other operators have found 5G is up to 90% more energy efficient than 4G technology.
Opensignal will continue to assess the real-world mobile network experience and monitor how quickly French users see improvements as 5G rolls out and becomes mainstream in France.
| Mobile Experience Awards France | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 2021,
France Report
|
B
Bouygues
|
F
Free Mobile
|
O
Orange
|
S
SFR
|
Video Experience
| ||||
Games Experience
| ||||
Voice App Experience
| ||||
Download Speed Experience
| ||||
Upload Speed Experience
| ||||
4G Availability
| ||||
4G Coverage Experience
| ||||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
May 2021,
France
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
Games Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
O
Orange
|
|
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
|
May 2021, France
|
|---|---|
|
4G Availability
|
B
Bouygues
S
SFR
|
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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