Guatemala
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.
Guatemala
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
Claro users saw the fastest average download and upload speeds
Our users on Claro's network observed the fastest average download speeds of 20 Mbps, a 41.2% lead over Tigo users’ average download speed of 14.2 Mbps. Similarly, our Claro users saw upload speeds of 12.7 Mbps that were substantially faster (76.7%) than Tigo users’ average upload speeds of 7.2 Mbps.
Claro emerges as the clear winner for Games and Voice App Experience
Claro is the outright winner for both Games Experience and Voice App Experience awards in Guatemala. The operator scored 53.7 points on a 100-point scale in Games Experience, taking a lead over Tigo by 17.7 points. In Voice App Experience, Claro scored 76.5 points, beating Tigo by 9.4 points.
Tigo triumphs in 4G Coverage Experience
Tigo wins the award for 4G Coverage Experience outright. The operator's score of 6.6 points gave it a lead of 1.4 points over Claro making this the only award where Tigo is the outright winner. Tigo's score means our users on this network were able to connect to 4G services in more than six out of 10 locations.
Claro and Tigo share the Video Experience award
Claro and Tigo are joint winners of the Video Experience award with statistically tied scores in the 42.4-46.6 range on a 100 point scale. Both operators placed in the Fair (40-55) category which means the experience is best suited to standard definition video streaming.
Claro tops the leaderboard for consistent quality awards
Claro wins both the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards. Its score of 65.4% for Excellent Consistent Quality gave it a lead of 3.4 percentage points over second-placed Tigo. On Core Consistent Quality, Claro scored 81.2%, 2.6 percentage points ahead of Tigo. Consistent quality metrics measure how often our users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In our first ever analysis of the Guatemalan mobile market, Claro emerges as the leading operator for mobile network experience in the country. The operator dominates the leaderboard being the outright winner for seven out of 10 awards including both Speed Experience awards and Consistent Quality awards. While Tigo has only one outright win for 4G Coverage Experience, the operator is a joint winner alongside Claro for Video Experience and 4G Availability.
Regulators and operators around the world are actively moving towards introducing 5G technology in their countries albeit at different paces. However, the telecoms industry in Guatemala has been slower to move ahead with 5G barring a couple of recent developments.
Guatemalan regulator, Superintendence of Telecommunications (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones, SIT) had issued a resolution in January 2021 for auctioning a 60 MHz block in the 700 MHz band suited for 5G. However, as of early 2022 the auction was yet to take place — the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) expected the auction sometime in 2022. In addition, industry players have been focused on consolidation. Millicom has taken complete control of Tigo in November 2021, buying out 45% of equity in cash from Panama based Miffin Associates for $2.2 billion.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the two main mobile network operators in Guatemala: Claro and Tigo, over a period of 90 days starting on December 1, 2021 and ending on February 28, 2022, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
For Video Experience, Claro and Tigo were in a statistical tie with scores around 45 points respectively on a 100 point scale. Both operators placed in the Fair (40-55) category meaning users experienced slow loading times and prolonged stalling either for higher resolution videos or for some streaming providers.
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
Opensignal users on Claro's network had the best available experience in Guatemala while playing real-time multiplayer mobile games, making Claro the outright winner of the Games Experience award. With a score of 53.7 on a 100-point scale, Claro had a large lead of 17.7 points over Tigo which scored 36.0.
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
Claro is the clear winner for Voice App Experience. With a score of 76.5 on the 100-point scale, Claro defeated its rival Tigo by 9.4 points.
Claro placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category for Voice App Experience, meaning some users were satisfied while others experienced noticeable call quality issues such as low volume or distortion. On the other hand, Tigo placed in the Poor (66-74) category, indicating that many users are dissatisfied with the experience and suffered from the above-mentioned issues during their calls.
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
Claro is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award. Opensignal users on Claro's network saw average download speeds of 20 Mbps, a 41.2% lead over Tigo users' average speed of 14.2 Mbps. When 5G eventually launches, users will see a large increase in average download speeds, based on the experience Opensignal has seen in 5G markets where the latest network generation is already live.
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
Our Guatemalan users enjoyed the fastest average upload speeds on Claro's mobile network — 12.7 Mbps. The operator had a lead of 5.5 Mbps (76.7%) over runner-up Tigo's average upload speed of 7.2 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
Claro
Tigo
National Analysis
Claro is the outright winner of the Availability award with our users spending 97.6% of their time on the operator's network connected to 3G or better technology. The gap between runner up Tigo and Claro was narrow with Claro beating Tigo's score of 95% only by 2.7 percentage points.
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
When it comes to 4G Availability, which shows the average proportion of time our 4G users spent with a 4G connection on each operator's network, the competition was tight. Claro and Tigo share the award for 4G Availability with statistically tied scores around 84.8%.
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
Tigo bags the award for 4G Coverage Experience, meaning our Tigo users received a 4G signal in most locations out of all those visited by our users across both Guatemalan operators. This was Tigo's only outright win in this report with a score of 6.6 on a 10 point scale, a 1.4 point lead over Claro's score of 5.2.
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
With the highest Excellent Consistent Quality score of 65.4%, Claro wins the award for Excellent Consistent Quality. This metric measures the percentage of tests where our users’ network met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for high definition (HD) video, group video conference calls and gaming. Coming in second, Tigo was close behind with a score of 62.0% and only 3.4 percentage points behind winner Claro.
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
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. Claro is the winner in this category as well with a Core Consistent Quality of 81.2%, which is a 2.6 percentage point lead over Tigo.
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