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Our csl users experienced the fastest average download speeds increasing from 25.6 Mbps in the last Opensignal report to 29.6 Mbps. CMHK was in second place, scoring 24.9 Mbps with the gap between CMHK and both 3 and SmarTone widening.
With a score of 74.8 on our 100 point scale, SmarTone retains the award, ahead of CMHK's score of 72.3 in second place. Notably, where last time CMHK, 3 and csl were tied, CMHK has pulled ahead of two of its rivals. Opensignal's Games Experience measures the multiplayer mobile gaming experience of popular game genres including battle royale, example titles include PUBG or Fortnite, and massive online battle area titles (MOBA) such as Arena of Valor.
With a score of 73.8 csl wins Opensignal's Video Experience award narrowly ahead of 3 and CMHK both of whom are statistically tied on scores of 71.4 and 71.8 respectively. All three operators place in the Very Good (65 < 75) category. Our SmarTone users observed the lowest Video Experience and fell into the Good category (55 < 65) with a score of 64.1 on the 100 point scale. Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks.
On three of Hong Kong's operators — 3, CMHK and csl — our users experience an Acceptable Voice App Experience (74 < 80) with scores ranging from 77.2 to 78.3 on the 100 point scale. However, SmarTone narrowly rates in the Good category (80 < 87) with a score of 80.4 meaning that minor quality impairments may have been experienced by some users. Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services, for example for mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Skype, or Facebook Messenger.
Even with 5G, the older 4G technology remains important to act as an anchor for 5G non-standalone access (NSA) meaning that a 5G smartphone also needs a 4G signal in order to connect to 5G. On two measures of mobile network experience that reflect the extent of 4G in Hong Kong there is little difference between operators. Three operators jointly win 4G Availability — time connected to 4G — with 3, CMHK and csl scoring 95.7%, 95.3% and 95% respectively. While for 4G Coverage Experience, which reflects the locations 4G is experienced, CMHK, csl and SmarTone all score 9.9.
Hong Kong is a fiercely competitive mobile market with four leading mobile network operators competing for the best mobile experience. The results across Opensignal's range of award categories highlights the importance of using multiple measures to understand how users' experience varies because we see all four operators jointly win, or win, at least one award.
While commercial 5G services are available in Hong Kong, it's still early days for this latest mobile technology generation. The reach of 5G is still growing, and the bulk of users continue to rely on 4G. In 2021, 4G remains important even for 5G usage, because with 5G non-standalone access, users must be connected to a 4G signal for 5G to operate. This will change as 5G standalone access arrives, but for now this is in trials.
Operators also need more spectrum to boost the 5G experience and drive higher 5G adoption. Hong Kong's Communications Authority plans to award 325 MHz of new spectrum suited for 5G — a large amount — across the 600 MHz and 700 MHz bands suited for in-building reach as well as rural services, alongside the 4.9GHz higher capacity mid-band. This will help operators transform Hong Kong's 5G experience.
In this report we examine Hong Kongers' mobile network experience in the 90 days between January 1 and March 31, 2021. Our award categories include users' measurements from all mobile network technology generations including 5G.
| Mobile Experience Awards Hong Kong | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 2021,
Hong Kong Report
|
3
3
|
C
CMHK
|
c
csl
|
S
SmarTone
|
Video Experience
| ||||
Games Experience
| ||||
Voice App Experience
| ||||
Download Speed Experience
| ||||
Upload Speed Experience
| ||||
4G Availability
| ||||
4G Coverage Experience
| ||||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
May 2021,
Hong Kong
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
c
csl
|
|
Games Experience
|
S
SmarTone
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
S
SmarTone
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
c
csl
|
|
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
|
May 2021, Hong Kong
|
|---|---|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
C
CMHK
c
csl
|
|
4G Availability
|
3
3
C
CMHK
c
csl
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
C
CMHK
c
csl
S
SmarTone
|
There are under three points on our 100 point Video Experience scale separating 3, CMHK and csl but the latter again wins the Opensignal Video Experience award with a score of 73.8. Alongside csl, our 3 and CMHK users also enjoyed a Very Good (65 < 75) Video Experience. This rating means users saw generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling but the experience might have been somewhat inconsistent across users and/or video providers/resolutions.
However, fourth placed SmarTone scored 64.1 which rated in the Good category. This means that users had a less consistent experience, even from the same video streaming provider and particularly for higher resolutions, with noticeably slower loading times and stalling not being uncommon.
Opensignal's Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks with an International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-based approach. To calculate video experience, Opensignal has directly measured video streams from end-user devices measuring a series of technical characteristics. The score represents users' perceived video experience derived from experimental studies of the relationship between these technical parameters — including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate — with real users' perceived video experience.
Games Experience quantifies the multiplayer mobile gaming experience of smartphone users. Opensignal measures technical parameters that are important in determining the gaming experience — including latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination) — and combine these into a single score representing users' perceived experience based on several years of research into popular games genres such as Battle Royale and MOBA, examples of which include Fortnite, PUBG and Arena of Valor.
SmarTone wins the Games Experience award with a score of 74.8 on our 100 point scale, ahead of CMHK in second place with 72.3. Notably, CMHK has moved ahead of rivals 3 and csl compared with the last two reports when all three were statistically tied. SmarTone users' Games Experience narrowly misses out on ranking in the Good category (75<85) this time. All four operators have significant room for improvement to reach an Excellent (85 or above) Games Experience. Otherwise operators risk many of their users preferring to use Wifi, and not the mobile network, for multiplayer gaming on their smartphones.
With a score of 80.4, SmarTone narrowly wins the Opensignal Voice App Experience award and places in the Good (80<87) category. Our users experience with the three other operators rates as Acceptable (74<80) meaning some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments and a short duration of clicking sounds or distortion can be heard or the volume may not be sufficiently loud. Listener was generally able to comprehend without repetition. However, there are less than four points on our 100 point scale that separate all four operators this time so 3, csl and CMHK are not far from catching the winner and SmarTone must continue to execute well to retain its award in future.
Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services using popular mobile apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger etc. — using a model based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. Voice App Experience represents the relationship between the real-world technical measurements and users' perceived call quality.
With 29.6 Mbps, csl wins the Download Speed Experience award. Our csl users' average download speeds were almost 5 Mbps faster than the speeds seen by our users connecting with second-placed CMHK (24.9 Mbps). However, 3 and SmarTone were a long way from leading the market with scores of 18.8 Mbps and 19.9 Mbps respectively.
While we have seen changes in the download speed, the Opensignal Upload Speed Experience results are very similar to our last report. In both, csl and CMHK jointly win the award for Upload Speed Experience, now with statistically tied speeds of 7.8 Mbps and 7.7 Mbps respectively. This means our users on these two operators are able to share photos or video on social networks and send email attachments more quickly than users connecting with 3 or SmarTone.
On all four operators, our users have seen slightly greater time connected to 4G services — 4G Availability — than in the last report. The three winning operators all have 4G Availability scores of 95% or more and are closing on a perfect score. Our SmarTone users see a slightly lower experience with a score of 93.9%.
While 5G has launched in Hong Kong, 4G remains an important foundation even for users connecting to 5G. In part, this is because the non-standalone access (NSA) technology used to deploy 5G in Hong Kong initially and globally requires 5G smartphones to connect to 4G in order to use 5G. Also, even when connected to 5G, the quality of the 4G network helps augment the experience, as data may travel over both 4G and 5G connections simultaneously and the backhaul links from cellular base stations are a shared capacity. If a mobile operator upgrades those links it helps improve both users' 4G and 5G experience.
There is little difference in 4G Coverage Experience between Hong Kong's operators. On a ten point scale, CMHK, csl and SmarTone tie on 9.9 and jointly win the award. But 3 is only just behind with a score of 9.8.
Opensignal's 4G Coverage Experience 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.
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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