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In our previous reports, Turkcell held the Video Experience award in a firm grip, winning it outright three times in a row since we introduced this award in our inaugural report on Mobile Network Experience in Turkey. However, this time Türk Telekom claims the award and becomes its new sole winner, with a score of 67.7 points — 1.2 points ahead of Turkcell. Both operators placed in the Very Good (65-75) category, meaning generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling.
Turkcell wins the Download Speed Experience outright for the fourth consecutive time, remaining the only holder of this award since we launched our Mobile Network Experience reports on Turkey. Our users on this network enjoyed a boost of 2.5 Mbps (9.4%) in their average download speeds, compared to our previous report — the highest increase among all mobile networks in Turkey. As a result of this boost, Turkcell clocked in at a score of 29.6 Mbps and is very close to hitting the 30 Mbps milestone. It also increased its lead over second-placed Türk Telekom from two to 4.6 Mbps.
Thanks to a 1.1 Mbps increase in average upload speeds experienced by our Türk Telekom users, the operator forced a statistical tie against the previous sole winner Turkcell for the Upload Speed Experience award. Both operators were also joint winners of this award in our December 2020 report. This time, they share the crown while also hitting the 10 Mbps mark — 2.7-2.8 Mbps ahead of third-placed Vodafone.
Vodafone wins only one award outright in our report — 4G Availability. Vodafone has held firmly onto this award for the fourth consecutive time and has been its only winner since we introduced it in our Mobile Network Experience report on Turkey. Our 4G users were, on average, connected to 4G or better services on its network for 92.9% of the time. While Vodafone’s score remained statistically unchanged, its competitors saw small declines in their scores — which led to Vodafone’s winning margin over second-placed Turkcell increase from 3.4 to 5.3 percentage points. In the other of our 4G extent metrics, Turkcell retained the title, winning the 4G Coverage Experience award for the fourth time in a row.
Türk Telekom successfully defends its Games and Voice App Experience awards, winning them for the second and fourth consecutive times, respectively. Having secured the Video Experience award this time around, Türk Telekom wins all three of our experiential awards outright. Opensignal’s Games Experience metric analyzes how the multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter, while Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services e.g. mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger.
In our fourth report on Mobile Network Experience in Turkey, we observed Türk Telekom increase its award count from two sole wins in the previous report to three outright and one shared win this time around. The operator snatched the Video Experience award away from the previous winner Turkcell. As Türk Telekom retained both Games and Video App Experience awards, it now holds all of our experiential awards. On top of this, the operator also forced a statistical tie against Turkcell for the Upload Speed Experience award — a situation we last saw in our December 2020 report.
Apart from sharing the Upload Speed Experience award with Türk Telekom, Turkcell keeps a firm hold of two of its outright wins from the last report— Download Speed Experience and 4G Coverage Experience. The operator clocked up a score of 29.6 Mbps for Download Speed Experience and is very close to hitting the 30 Mbps milestone. Meanwhile, Vodafone successfully defends its sole outright victory in 4G Availability. It holds the distinction of being the only operator in Turkey on whose network our 4G users were, on average, connected to 4G or better services for more than 90% of the time.
Strong 4G networks are vital in Turkey, as they will pave the road for a smoother transition to next-generation 5G networks. While Turkey has not auctioned the 5G spectrum yet — which may happen in 2022 — operators are preparing their networks for future 5G deployments. Türk Telekom inked a 5G synchronization agreement with Net Insight, to implement cost-efficient time synchronization over existing networks, which will facilitate 5G rollouts without the need to replace or upgrade existing nodes.
In this report, we've analyzed the mobile network experience for Turkey's national operators — Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone, over a period of 90 days beginning August 1 and ending October 29, 2021, to see how they fared.
| Mobile Experience Awards Turkey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
December 2021,
Turkey Report
|
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
Video Experience
| |||
Games Experience
| |||
Voice App Experience
| |||
Download Speed Experience
| |||
Upload Speed Experience
| |||
4G Availability
| |||
4G Coverage Experience
| |||
|
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
|
December 2021,
Turkey
|
|---|---|
|
Video Experience
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
|
Games Experience
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
|
Voice App Experience
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
|
Download Speed Experience
|
T
Turkcell
|
|
4G Availability
|
V
Vodafone
|
|
4G Coverage Experience
|
T
Turkcell
|
|
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
|
December 2021, Turkey
|
|---|---|
|
Upload Speed Experience
|
T
Turkcell
T
Türk Telekom
|
After three consecutive outright wins of this award in our previous report, Turkcell loses the Video Experience award to Türk Telekom this time around. Türk Telekom wins with a score of 67.7 points — 1.2 points ahead of Turkcell. Both operators achieved a Very Good rating (65-75), meaning generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling, while Vodafone placed in a category below — Good (55-65) — with a score of 63.9 points.
|
Video Experience
Additional Metrics |
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Video Experience
| 68.5 (± 0.25) | 70.3 (± 0.35) | 65.7 (± 0.41) |
|
3G Video Experience
| 58.1 (± 0.69) | 59.7 (± 0.81) | 49.8 (± 1.37) |
| 4G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
69 (± 0.25) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
70 (± 0.35) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
66 (± 0.41) |
| 3G Video Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
58 (± 0.69) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
60 (± 0.81) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
50 (± 1.37) |
Opensignal’s Video Experience metric quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using an ITU-based approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
Türk Telekom successfully defends its Games Experience award with a score of 60.8 points. It wins the award for the second time in a row, after prying it out of Vodafone’s hands in our previous report. Türk Telekom’s winning margin over second-placed Vodafone decreased from 4.1 to three points — as both operators’ scores declined by 4.1 and 3.1 points respectively. Turkcell lagged behind the runner-up Vodafone, being 12.4 points away from second place.
|
Games Experience
Additional Metrics |
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Games Experience
| 48.4 (± 0.75) | 66.1 (± 0.57) | 62.1 (± 0.57) |
|
3G Games Experience
| 38.1 (± 0.45) | 44.8 (± 0.87) | 36.2 (± 0.37) |
| 4G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
48 (± 0.75) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
66 (± 0.57) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
62 (± 0.57) |
| 3G Games Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
38 (± 0.45) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
45 (± 0.87) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
36 (± 0.37) |
Opensignal’s Games Experience metric is a measure of how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how the multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter to determine the impact on gameplay and the overall multiplayer gaming experience.
Türk Telekom also retains the Voice App Experience award, remaining its sole winner for the fourth consecutive time. The operator wins with a score of 79.7 points — 1.1 points lower than in the previous report and 1.3 points ahead of Vodafone. As a result, the operator slips down one category, from Good (80-87) to Acceptable (74-80), which it shares with Vodafone. This rating means that listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition, but some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments.
|
Voice App Experience
Additional Metrics |
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in 0-100 points | |||
|
4G Voice App Experience
| 73.6 (± 0.29) | 81.0 (± 0.22) | 79.5 (± 0.24) |
|
3G Voice App Experience
| 70.1 (± 0.49) | 75.9 (± 0.47) | 70.3 (± 0.77) |
| 4G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
74 (± 0.29) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
81 (± 0.22) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
79 (± 0.24) |
| 3G Voice App Experience | in 0-100 points |
|
T
Turkcell
|
70 (± 0.49) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
76 (± 0.47) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
70 (± 0.77) |
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger etc. — using a model derived from an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
Turkcell continues to dominate the Download Speed Experience award since we introduced our Turkey Mobile Network Experience reports, winning it four times in a row so far. Our users on this network enjoyed a boost of 2.5 Mbps (9.4%) in their average download speeds since our last report, up to 29.6 Mbps — meaning, Turkcell is close to becoming the first operator in Turkey to hit the 30 Mbps mark,.
Since our users on second-placed Türk Telekom saw no statistically significant changes in their average download speeds, Turkcell widened its winning margin over the runner-up from two to 4.6 Mbps. Vodafone observed an increase of 0.5 Mbps (3.2%) of its average download speeds as seen by our users but is 9.3 Mbps behind Türk Telekom, while our Turkcell users saw average speeds that were nearly double those seen by Vodafone users.
|
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Download Speed
| 33.9 (± 0.30) | 29.1 (± 0.29) | 16.7 (± 0.17) |
|
3G Download Speed
| 11.8 (± 0.19) | 12.1 (± 0.22) | 7.3 (± 0.21) |
| 4G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Turkcell
|
34 (± 0.30) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
29 (± 0.29) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
17 (± 0.17) |
| 3G Download Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Turkcell
|
12 (± 0.19) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
12 (± 0.22) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
7 (± 0.21) |
Looking at Download Speed Experience by mobile technology generation, Turkcell clocked in an average 4G download speed of 33.9 Mbps, while Türk Telekom followed closely with a score of 29.1 Mbps and Vodafone trails behind with a score of 16.7 Mbps.
After breaking a statistical tie with Türk Telekom and claiming the Upload Speed Experience award outright in our previous report, Turkcell has to share the award with Türk Telekom again. Both operators saw increases in their average upload speeds — Turkcell’s score rose by 0.3 Mbps (3.1%), while Türk Telekom saw a larger increase of 1.1 Mbps (12.1%), which helped it to secure a joint victory against the previous sole award holder. Both operators hit the 10 Mbps milestone — meanwhile, Vodafone saw no statistically significant changes in its score and is now 2.7-2.8 Mbps behind both winners.
|
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics |
T
Turkcell
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
V
Vodafone
|
|---|---|---|---|
| in Mbps | |||
|
4G Upload Speed
| 11.9 (± 0.12) | 12.4 (± 0.14) | 7.9 (± 0.08) |
|
3G Upload Speed
| 2.3 (± 0.06) | 3.0 (± 0.07) | 2.7 (± 0.12) |
| 4G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Turkcell
|
12 (± 0.12) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
12 (± 0.14) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
8 (± 0.08) |
| 3G Upload Speed | in Mbps |
|
T
Turkcell
|
2 (± 0.06) |
|
T
Türk Telekom
|
3 (± 0.07) |
|
V
Vodafone
|
3 (± 0.12) |
In terms of 4G Upload Speed, Türk Telekom pulled ahead of Turkcell, with a score of 12.4 Mbps — 0.5 Mbps more than what our users saw when connected to Turkcell’s 4G network. Upload speeds are becoming increasingly important in mobile services, with changing usage patterns and consumption habits. Mobile users now engage more on social media apps — creating and sharing high-resolution images and videos — and are increasingly creating content, rather than just consuming it, which gives operators with the fastest upload speeds a distinct advantage.
The 4G Availability award marks the only outright win for Vodafone in our report. The operator has won this award outright in every report on Mobile Network Experience in Turkey we have published so far. Our 4G users were, on average, connected to 4G or better services on this network for 92.9% of the time — the only operator in Turkey with a score over 90%. While Vodafone’s score remained statistically unchanged, Turkcell and Türk Telekom saw declines in their scores, of 1.9 and 1.3 percentage points respectively. This resulted in Vodafone’s lead over second-placed Turkcell increasing from 3.4 to 5.3 percentage points.
Opensignal’s 4G Availability metric shows the average proportion of time that our users spend with a 4G or better connection on each operator's network.
Looking at our second 4G extent metric, Turkcell remains the outright winner in the 4G Coverage Experience award, doing so for the fourth time in a row. The operator scored 6.9 points on a 10-point scale and retained its 0.5-point winning margin over second-placed Vodafone. All Turkish operators saw increases in their scores of 0.2-0.3 — which means our users in Turkey were able to connect to 4G networks in more locations than we recorded previously.
Opensignal’s 4G Coverage Experience metric 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 our analysis of the mobile experience in seven of Turkey’s regions Türk Telekom wins 14 awards outright and shares 11 crowns, out of the 42 awards available. It comes victorious in every region for both the Games Experience and Voice App Experience awards, either individually or jointly. Turkcell garners 10 sole victories and five shared ones — all with Türk Telekom — with the bulk of its outright wins coming from our speed awards. Vodafone snatches seven outright and six joint wins, shared with Türk Telekom — with all of its outright awards in the 4G Availability category. This makes Vodafone the only operator in Turkey to win outright across all the regions in a category.
Türk Telekom wins three regional Video Experience awards individually, in Marmara, Mediterranean and Southeastern Anatolia; while Turkcell claims its only outright victory in Aegean. On top of this, both operators jointly win in the three remaining regions — Central Anatolia, Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia. Türk Telekom rated Very Good (65-75) in all the regions except for Southeastern Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia, where it placed in the Good (55-65) category. Turkcell placed in the Very Good category in Aegean, Central Anatolia and Marmara, while Vodafone — in Marmara and Mediterranean.
There were no outright winners for regional Games Experience awards other than Türk Telekom, which individually wins in Central Anatolia, Mediterranean and Eastern Anatolia. In the remaining four regions, Vodafone statistically ties with Türk Telekom and secures four joint wins — more than half of all the shared regional awards Vodafone wins in this time around. All operators across all regions placed in the Poor (40-65) category — except for Turkcell in Southeastern Anatolia, which rated Very Poor (under 40).
In the Voice App Experience category, Türk Telekom racked up five outright wins — the most it has obtained for any of our metrics at the regional level — while also jointly winning with Vodafone in Southeastern Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia. Türk Telekom achieved the Good (80-87) rating in Central Anatolia, Marmara and Eastern Anatolia.
While our experiential regional awards are mainly claimed by Türk Telekom — either outright or jointly — Turkcell secures the majority of our Download Speed Experience awards. The operator wins in six out of seven regions in Turkey, while sharing the crown with Türk Telekom only in Southeastern Anatolia. Our users on Turkcell’s network in Aegean and Marmara saw the fastest average download speeds in the country, with identical scores of 34.5 Mbps. While Turkcell and Türk Telekom saw their average download speed go above 20 Mbps across all the regions, Vodafone highest regional average download speeds clocked in at 16.7-17 Mbps in the statistically tied Marmara and Mediterranean.
Looking at our Upload Speed Experience awards at a regional level, we observed a more tightly fought contest between Turkcell and Türk Telekom, as both operators won three awards outright each. Turkcell came victorious in Black Sea, Central Anatolia and Marmara — in the latter region, our users on Turkcell’s network saw the fastest average upload speeds in Turkey, of 12.4 Mbps. Türk Telekom wins outright in Aegean, Mediterranean and Southeastern Anatolia, while both operators shared the award in Eastern Anatolia.
Vodafone dominates the 4G Availability regional awards table, achieving a clean sweep across all Turkey’s regions, winning all seven awards outright. Our 4G users were, on average, connected to 4G or better services on this network more than 90% of the time across all regions. Meanwhile, neither Turkcell nor Türk Telekom saw any of their 4G Availability metrics exceed 90% this time around. Our users on Türk Telekom’s network in Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia were connected to 4G less than 80% of the time.
Select any region or city below to display individual breakdown
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