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Our MEO users saw the fastest average download speeds (37.6 Mbps) and as a result the operator is the sole winner of the Download Speed Experience award. This has put an end to Vodafone’s impressive winning streak — it won this award in all of our previous reports on Portugal’s mobile network experience, stretching back all the way to January 2018. MEO’s score rose by 4.1 Mbps compared to that in our last report, while Vodafone’s score fell by 2.2 Mbps. As a result, MEO commands a lead of 3 Mbps over the previous winner. We noted that the gap between the two operators’ scores had been narrowing in our previous two reports, so MEO’s victory has been long in the making. MEO wasn’t the only operator to make good progress — NOS’s Download Speed Experience score increased by 2.5 Mbps (11.8%) from our previous report to reach 23.9 Mbps.
Vodafone’s lead on Upload Speed Experience narrowed in our last report from at least 2.7 Mbps to 0.9 Mbps. This trend has continued to the point where Vodafone and NOS are now joint winners. The statistical tie between the two operators was triggered by a 0.8 Mbps (7.3%) increase in NOS’s score and a small decline in Vodafone’s. However, our MEO users saw the largest improvement since our last report as their average upload speeds rose by 1 Mbps (9.9%).
A 1.7 point increase in MEO’s Video Experience score since our last report and a drop of 0.2 points in Vodafone’s has resulted in a statistical tie between these two operators. As a result, they are joint winners of the Video Experience award. The two operators share the victory for Voice App Experience and this is the first time that these two awards have not been won outright by Vodafone.
NOS has slipped back below the 90% mark, with a drop of 0.4 percentage points in the proportion of time that our users on its network spent connected to 4G. However, as Vodafone’s 4G Availability score declined by 1.5 percentage points, the two operators are statistically tied for this award. MEO was the only operator on which our users saw an improvement, as its score rose by 0.6 percentage points to 85.9%, 3.9-4.6 percentage points behind its rivals.
The dominant position that Vodafone held across our awards table in our previous reports has been heavily eroded by its rivals. The operator is still the outright winner of the Games Experience award and is a joint winner in five out of the remaining six awards. This is in stark contrast to our previous three reports in which it won all but one award outright and was a joint winner for 4G Coverage Experience.
MEO wins the Download Speed Experience award outright and is a joint winner alongside Vodafone for both Video Experience and Voice App Experience. NOS has forced a statistical tie with Vodafone for Upload Speed Experience and the two operators are also joint winners of the 4G Availability award. All three operators remain locked in a statistical tie for 4G Coverage Experience. The only outright win that Vodafone has successfully defended since our previous report is for Games Experience.
Hopes that Portugal will roll out 5G this year on a large scale are diminishing given the long-winded nature of the spectrum auction in the 700 MHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.6 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands. In early June,it hit the 100 day mark and the regulator ANACOM has had to change the processes underpinning the auction several times in an effort to speed up the bidding. Without new spectrum, should operators wish to launch 5G services they will need to re-use existing spectrum for 5G.
In this report, we’ve analyzed the mobile experience of our Portuguese users across all three national operators — MEO, NOS and Vodafone — over the 90 day period starting March 1, 2021 and ending May 29, 2021. Our results include measurements from all generations of mobile network technologies.
| Mobile Experience Awards Portugal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
July 2021,
Portugal Report
|
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
Video Experience
| |||
Games Experience
| |||
Voice App Experience
| |||
Download Speed Experience
| |||
Upload Speed Experience
| |||
4G Availability
| |||
4G Coverage Experience
| |||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
July 2021,
Portugal
|
|---|---|
|
Games Experience
|
V
Vodafone
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
M
MEO
|
|
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
|
July 2021, Portugal
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
M
MEO
V
Vodafone
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
M
MEO
V
Vodafone
|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
N
NOS
V
Vodafone
|
|
4G Availability
|
N
NOS
V
Vodafone
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
M
MEO
N
NOS
V
Vodafone
|
|
Video Experience
Additional Metrics |
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Video Experience
| 77.3 (± 0.59) | 75.1 (± 0.72) | 77.1 (± 0.59) |
|
3G Video Experience
| 58.6 (± 3.47) | 53.4 (± 4.57) | 61.0 (± 3.12) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
77 (± 0.59) |
|
N
NOS
|
75 (± 0.72) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
77 (± 0.59) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
59 (± 3.47) |
|
N
NOS
|
53 (± 4.57) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
61 (± 3.12) |
|
Games Experience
Additional Metrics |
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Games Experience
| 73.9 (± 0.93) | 69.3 (± 1.22) | 74.0 (± 0.85) |
|
3G Games Experience
| 38.9 (± 2.36) | 44.5 (± 4.78) | 50.5 (± 3.19) |
| 4G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
74 (± 0.93) |
|
N
NOS
|
69 (± 1.22) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
74 (± 0.85) |
| 3G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
39 (± 2.36) |
|
N
NOS
|
44 (± 4.78) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
50 (± 3.19) |
|
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics |
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Voice App Experience
| 81.5 (± 0.39) | 79.9 (± 0.55) | 81.3 (± 0.37) |
|
3G Voice App Experience
| 73.3 (± 1.90) | 75.2 (± 1.94) | 75.6 (± 1.39) |
| 4G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
81 (± 0.39) |
|
N
NOS
|
80 (± 0.55) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
81 (± 0.37) |
| 3G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
M
MEO
|
73 (± 1.90) |
|
N
NOS
|
75 (± 1.94) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
76 (± 1.39) |
|
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Download Speed
| 42.7 (± 1.06) | 25.7 (± 0.85) | 38.5 (± 0.94) |
|
3G Download Speed
| 7.4 (± 0.60) | 5.8 (± 0.58) | 6.8 (± 0.56) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
M
MEO
|
43 (± 1.06) |
|
N
NOS
|
26 (± 0.85) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
39 (± 0.94) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
M
MEO
|
7 (± 0.60) |
|
N
NOS
|
6 (± 0.58) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
7 (± 0.56) |
|
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
M
MEO
|
N
NOS
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Upload Speed
| 12.5 (± 0.35) | 12.7 (± 0.42) | 13.0 (± 0.35) |
|
3G Upload Speed
| 2.1 (± 0.27) | 2.3 (± 0.32) | 2.8 (± 0.25) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
M
MEO
|
13 (± 0.35) |
|
N
NOS
|
13 (± 0.42) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
13 (± 0.35) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
M
MEO
|
2 (± 0.27) |
|
N
NOS
|
2 (± 0.32) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
3 (± 0.25) |
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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