Mobile Network Experience Report Mexico October 2021

Mexico

Mobile Network Experience Report
October 2021

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.

Author
Sam Fenwick Senior Analyst

Key Findings

AT&T strips Telcel of the Games Experience award

For the first time since we added the Games Experience award to our Mexican mobile network experience reports back in April 2020, Telcel didn’t win it outright. The glory instead goes to AT&T, as its score has risen by 3.3 points since our last report while Telcel’s score has declined by the same amount. These changes mean that AT&T commanded a lead of 5.1 points over second-placed Telcel. Opensignal’s Games Experience is a measure of how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s cellular network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how users’ experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.

Mexico’s mobile experience is a two-horse race between Telcel & AT&T

AT&T’s capture of the Games Experience award continues a recent trend. In both our 2020 reports, all but one of our awards was held by Telcel. However, in our April 2021 report, AT&T took the lead from Telcel in Voice App Experience while also holding onto the 4G Availability award. This time Tecel has the largest haul of awards but the difference is only four awards to AT&T’s three. However, Telcel still maintained its impressive leads in Video Experience, Download Speed Experience, Upload Speed Experience and 4G Coverage Experience, so AT&T will have to work hard if it wishes to erode Telcel’s grip on these awards.

AT&T successfully defends its hold on the 4G Availability award

Yet again, our AT&T users spent the most time connected to 4G winning the 4G Availability award with a score of 89.2% which is 4.4 percentage points ahead of second-placed Telcel. This is now the eighth time in a row that AT&T has won this award — its incredible winning streak began back in our April 2018 report, when it replaced Telcel on the winner’s podium. 4G Availability is an important category given the superior mobile experience our users typically see on 4G compared to 3G. However, Telcel wins the 4G Coverage Experience award again, which reflects the locations where our users see 4G.

Introduction

Altan Redes, the consortium that operates Red Compartida, the country’s wholesale 700 MHz network, filed for bankruptcy back in July so that it can enjoy protection under Mexican law while it renegotiates its debts. In January 2021, the operator failed to hit its 70% population target. In May it sought to push back the deadline for providing coverage to 92.2% of the Mexican population — from 2024 to 2028. Red Compartida’s problems highlight how important it is to understand the mobile experience of users with Mexico’s established mobile network operators such as AT&T, Movistar and Telcel. According to a report on 5G opportunities in Malaysia written by DT Economics and commissioned by the GSMA, that used Red Compartida as a case study, the operator has suffered from the absence of a large anchor customer. This was combined with its decision to roll out in urban areas first where MNOs already have their own networks, along with interoperability and handset compatibility issues.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Mexican mobile market is still in a holding pattern waiting for the launch of the IFT-10 tender that will award 41 national and regional spectrum blocks in the 800 MHz, PCS (1.9 GHz), 2.5 GHz and AWS-3 (1700/2100 MHz) bands, though commercial 5G services could launch as early as 2022. New spectrum capacity will help operators to support rising mobile data usage and an improved mobile network experience.

Our results in this report are based on measurements collected across all major mobile operators in Mexico – AT&T, Movistar and Telcel – over the period of 90 days between June 1, 2021 and August 29, 2021.

Opensignal Awards Table

Mobile Experience Awards Mexico
October 2021, Mexico Report
Video Experience
Games Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
4G Availability
4G Coverage Experience
Download Image
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
October 2021, Mexico
Video Experience
Games Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
4G Availability
4G Coverage Experience
Download Image

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
AT&T
59.8
Movistar
58.9
Telcel
66.9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

National Analysis

Video Experience

Video Experience
in 0-100 points
AT&T
59.8
Movistar
58.9
Telcel
66.9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Video Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Video Experience
61.4 (± 0.21) 66.0 (± 0.21) 71.4 (± 0.09)
3G Video Experience
49.7 (± 0.72) 40.3 (± 0.65) 48.7 (± 0.31)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Video Experience in 0-100 points
61 (± 0.21)
66 (± 0.21)
71 (± 0.09)
3G Video Experience in 0-100 points
50 (± 0.72)
40 (± 0.65)
49 (± 0.31)
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Inc.

Games Experience

Games Experience
in 0-100 points
AT&T
47.9
Movistar
37.7
Telcel
42.7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Games Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Games Experience
54.3 (± 0.26) 43.1 (± 0.30) 49.2 (± 0.21)
3G Games Experience
33.5 (± 0.12) 32.7 (± 0.10) 34.1 (± 0.05)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Games Experience in 0-100 points
54 (± 0.26)
43 (± 0.30)
49 (± 0.21)
3G Games Experience in 0-100 points
34 (± 0.12)
33 (± 0.10)
34 (± 0.05)
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Inc.

Voice App Experience

Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
AT&T
74.9
Movistar
70.1
Telcel
72.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Voice App Experience
76.7 (± 0.12) 73.1 (± 0.18) 74.9 (± 0.08)
3G Voice App Experience
63.5 (± 0.36) 61.9 (± 0.32) 64.7 (± 0.15)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Voice App Experience in 0-100 points
77 (± 0.12)
73 (± 0.18)
75 (± 0.08)
3G Voice App Experience in 0-100 points
64 (± 0.36)
62 (± 0.32)
65 (± 0.15)
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Inc.

Download Speed Experience

Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
AT&T
17.0
Movistar
17.5
Telcel
25.9
07.51522.530
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Download Speed
18.3 (± 0.11) 22.2 (± 0.13) 30.4 (± 0.08)
3G Download Speed
8.3 (± 0.14) 5.0 (± 0.08) 7.7 (± 0.06)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Download Speed in Mbps
18 (± 0.11)
22 (± 0.13)
30 (± 0.08)
3G Download Speed in Mbps
8 (± 0.14)
5 (± 0.08)
8 (± 0.06)
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Inc.

Upload Speed Experience

Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
AT&T
7.8
Movistar
6.8
Telcel
9.8
02.557.510
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Upload Speed
8.7 (± 0.06) 8.9 (± 0.07) 11.8 (± 0.04)
3G Upload Speed
2.1 (± 0.05) 1.3 (± 0.03) 1.7 (± 0.02)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Upload Speed in Mbps
9 (± 0.06)
9 (± 0.07)
12 (± 0.04)
3G Upload Speed in Mbps
2 (± 0.05)
1 (± 0.03)
2 (± 0.02)
Mobile Network Experience Report | October 2021 | © Opensignal Inc.

4G Availability

4G Availability
% of time
AT&T
89.2
Movistar
82.3
Telcel
84.8
022.54567.590
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

4G Coverage Experience

4G Coverage Experience
in 0-10 points
AT&T
5.7
Movistar
3.9
Telcel
7.7
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Learn more

Opensignal measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks in the places they live, work and travel.

We continually adapt our methodology to best represent the true experience of smartphone users. Therefore, comparisons of the results to past reports should be considered indicative only.

For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars. In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

More about Methodology

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For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.

In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience