Egypt
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Egypt
Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.
Key Findings
WE is top for Video Experience and Games Experience
WE wins two of Opensignal's experiential awards outright — Video Experience and Games Experience, with scores of 43.4 and 44.9, respectively (on a scale of 0-100). This means that our users in Egypt saw the best experience while streaming videos or playing multiplayer mobile games on their smartphones when connected to WE's mobile network.
WE wins the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards
WE leads on both the consistent quality awards. The operator's score of 54.4% in Excellent Core Quality places it 3.8 points ahead of its closest rival, Vodafone. However, it was a close run-race on Core Consistent Quality, where WE's winning score of 76.2% is 0.7 percentage points greater than that of Vodafone.
WE users enjoy the fastest download speeds in Egypt
WE wins our Download Speed Experience award, as our users on its network reported the fastest average downloads speeds in Egypt of 15.6 Mbps. Meanwhile, the Download Speed Experience on Etisalat averaged 13.7 Mbps, followed by Orange and Vodafone's scores of 11.9 Mbps and 11.6 Mbps, respectively.
Etisalat and WE jointly win the Upload Speed Experience award
Our users on Etisalat and WE's networks saw the fastest Upload Speed Experience, with speeds averaging 5.8-5.9 Mbps — at least 1.5 Mbps faster than that reported by our Orange users. Meanwhile, Vodafone followed close behind with a score of 3.9 points.
Vodafone scoops the 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience awards
Our users on Vodafone spent the greatest amount of time connected to 4G services, with 4G Availability of 82% — 5.8-6.8 percentage points ahead of Orange and WE, which are statistically tied for first place. In addition to the 4G Availability award, Vodafone also wins the 4G Coverage experience award outright with a score of 9.1 (on a 10-point scale).
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
A glimpse at our latest awards table, and it's evident that WE is the dominant operator when it comes to national mobile network experience in Egypt. The operator wins five out of our 10 awards outright — Video Experience, Games Experience, Download Speed Experience, Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality. In addition, WE also shares the top spot alongside Etisalat in Upload Speed Experience, as well as Availability, where we saw a three-way split between Etisalat, Vodafone and WE. Meanwhile, Vodafone is the only other operator to achieve outright wins; it leads in Voice App Experience, 4G Availability and 4G Coverage Experience.
However, our results also reveal that there is a lot of room for improvement across all national operators, especially on experiential metrics — Video Experience, Games App Experience and Voice App Experience. These metrics quantify the quality of experience (QoE) users perceive when using over-the-top (OTT) voice services, while streaming videos or playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular networks.
Late in 2021, Egypt's National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) approved the use of new spectrum in the 2600 MHz band by three national operators — Etisalat, Vodafone, and WE — that they previously acquired in December 2020. And in February 2022, NTRA also announced the allocation of 30 MHz in the 2600 MHz range to approved. Both allocations of additional spectrum will help operators boost network capacity and improve the mobile network experience in Egypt.
In this report, we have examined the mobile network experience of our users on the four nationwide mobile operators — Etisalat, Orange, Vodafone, and WE — over a period of 90 days, beginning on December 1, 2021, and ending on February 28, 2022, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our users in Egypt enjoyed the best Video Experience on WE's network. WE comfortably wins the Opensignal award with a score of 43.4 points out of 100 — a lead of 5.1-5.8 points over Etisalat, Orange and Vodafone's statistically tied scores. These scores place WE in the Fair Video Experience category (40-55), while all three of its competitors finished in the Poor category (under 40).
Definitions
Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU 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 — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:
- 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.
National Analysis
Looking at multiplayer mobile gaming, WE wins our Games Experience award with a score of 44.9 points (out of 100), while Vodafone trails very closely with 42 points. On the other hand, Orange and Etisalat place further below with scores of 35.5 and 36.1 points, respectively. These scores indicate that playing multiplayer mobile games over wireless networks remains challenging for our users in Egypt and that there is considerable room for improvement in this measure of the mobile experience.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.
Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.
Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:
- 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
Vodafone leads the Voice App Experience category in Egypt and secures the award with 71.4 points (on a 100-point scale), slightly ahead of WE's score of 70.7 points. While both the operators placed in the Poor category (66-74), Etisalat and Orange placed one category lower with statistically tied scores of 65.4 points
Definitions
Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the 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.
In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:
- 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
- Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
- 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.
National Analysis
WE is the outright winner of Opensignal's Download Speed Experience award. Our users on WE's network saw average download speeds of 15.6 Mbps, which was 1.8 Mbps (13.4%) greater than second-placed Etisalat and 3.7-4 Mbps faster than those reported by Orange and Vodafone users.
Definitions
Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.
In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:
- 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
National Analysis
Etisalat and WE share the Upload Speed Experience award with statistically tied scores of 5.8 Mbps and 5.9 Mbps, respectively. While Orange scored less than a point shy of the 5 Mbps mark, Vodafone places last, with users reporting average upload speeds of 3.9 Mbps.
Definitions
Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.
In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:
- 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
- Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
- 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
- 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).
Coverage
Etisalat
Orange
Vodafone
WE
National Analysis
Etisalat, Vodafone and WE share the Availability award as our users across the three networks reported no significant difference in the proportion of time they spent connected to a 3G or better technology.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Our Vodafone users enjoyed the highest 4G Availability in Egypt. As a result, the operator wins the award for this measure outright — with a score of 82%. This means that our 4G users on Vodafone's network, on average, spent 82% of their time connected to 4G services. Meanwhile, our users on the other three national networks observed 4G Availability scores below the 80% mark — ranging between 73.2% to 76.2%.
Definitions
Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.
We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.
Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.
4G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 4G device and a 4G subscription — but have never connected to 5G — had a 4G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Vodafone also wins the 4G Coverage Experience award with an impressive score of 9.1 points. This means our Vodafone users connected to the 4G network in nine out of 10 locations. Opensignal's 4G Coverage Experience analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.
Definitions
4G Coverage Experience measures 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.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Consistency
National Analysis
Our users on WE reported the highest Excellent Consistent Quality score of 54.4%, followed by that on Vodafone (50.6%). As a result, WE wins the Excellent Consistent Quality. This metric measures the percentage of users' tests on a network that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for high definition (HD) video, group video conference calls and gaming.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.
National Analysis
WE also wins a close-run race for the Core Consistent Quality award, as the operator's leading score of 76.2% is just slightly ahead of Vodafone's score of 75.5%. The Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users' tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications, including standard definition (SD) video, voice calls and web browsing.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.
Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.
Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Related Analysis
Our Methodology
Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
About Opensignal
Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.
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Confidence Intervals
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