Ireland
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.
Ireland
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.
Key Findings
eir wins both upload speed awards
Opensignal’s Irish users observed the fastest average upload speeds on eir’s network — both for 5G Upload Speed and for overall Upload Speed Experience. For 5G Upload Speed, eir scored an impressive 23.7 Mbps, giving it a lead of around 4.8 Mbps (25.3%) over 3 and Vodafone. On Upload Speed Experience, eir wins with a score of 9.7 Mbps — 0.6 Mbps (6.5%) faster than second-placed 3’s 9.1 Mbps
Users found 5G in the most locations when using eir’s network
eir is the sole winner of the 5G Reach award, as our eir users on average saw a 5G signal in the the highest proportion of locations out of all the locations they visited — with a resulting 3.7 points on a 10-point scale, comfortably ahead of 3 and Vodafone’s statistically tied scores of 1.7-1.8 points.
3 is the outright winner for Excellent Consistent Quality
The highest proportion of tests from users meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds for watching HD video, completing group video conference calls and playing mobile games was seen on 3’s network — making 3 the sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award. 3 with its score of 73.5% commands a 1.7 percentage point lead over second-placed eir’s score of 71.8%, while Vodafone places third with 68.1%.
The fastest average 5G download speeds were seen by our users with 3 and eir
3 and eir are joint winners of the 5G Download Speed award with statistically tied scores of 182.3-189.9 Mbps — around double that of Vodafone’s score of 92.4 Mbps.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
The taker of the lion’s share of awards in this report is eir, as it is either an outright or joint winner for 13 out of 15 awards. It wins the Upload Speed Experience, 5G Upload Speed and 5G Reach awards outright. 3 is the operator with the next largest haul — it is the sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award and a joint winner of eight awards, including Download Speed Experience and 5G Download Speed. Vodafone does not win any awards outright but is a joint winner in five categories.
In this report, we've analyzed our data gathered in the 90 day period starting on November 1, 2021, and ending on January 29, 2022, to see how Ireland’s three national operators — 3, eir and Vodafone — stack up. The overall metrics include measurements from our 5G users. We have also analyzed the experience of our users on 5G networks (the 5G awards), along with the overall experience of our 5G users across all generations of network technology — weighted by the proportion of time that they spent on each of them (our 5G Users submetrics).
Overall Experience
National Analysis
3 and eir are joint winners of the Video Experience award, with statistically tied scores around 50 points — this means that our Irish users had their best experience when streaming video over mobile connections on these two operators’ networks. Vodafone is not far behind the two front-runners, given its score of 47.5 points. While Vodafone’s upper confidence interval overlaps with eir’s lower confidence interval, Vodafone is not a joint winner as its upper confidence interval does not overlap with 3’s lower confidence interval.
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
Our users on eir and Vodafone’s networks had the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections, making the two operators joint winners of the Games Experience award. Vodafone and eir had statistically tied scores around 70 points, while 3 comes some way behind with a score of 63.7 points.
The two front-runners placed in the Fair (65-75) category. While 3 was only 1.3 points from the Fair threshold and instead placed in the Poor (40-65) category.
A Fair rating indicates that users found the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game was responsive to the actions of the player with most users reporting that they felt like they had control over the game. The majority of players reported that they noticed a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
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
Our users did not observe any significant difference in their Voice App Experience between Ireland’s three national operators. Therefore 3, eir and Vodafone are joint winners of the Voice App Experience award with scores around 78 points.
As a result, all three operators placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category. This means that some users were satisfied. However, perceptible call quality impairments were experienced by some users. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion were heard, and/or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. Listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition.
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
3 and eir users saw speeds close to the 30 Mbps mark for Download Speed Experience. Both operators had statistically tied scores slightly above 28 Mbps. As our Vodafone users on average observed speeds of 20.5 Mbps, 3 and eir are the only joint winners of the Download Speed Experience award.
When we look at the average download speeds seen by our 5G users across all generations of mobile technology we see a similar story with our 3 and eir 5G users seeing the fastest speeds in the Download Speed Experience – 5G Users category. 3 and eir’s 5G Users overall download speeds were 1.5-1.6 times higher than those seen by all eir users in Download Speed Experience. By comparison, Vodafone’s score was 1.3 times higher. This highlights how 5G helps improve overall download speeds even when 5G users are still spending the majority of their time connected to older generations of mobile network technology.
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 users observed their fastest average upload speeds on eir’s network — 9.7 Mbps — making eir the outright winner of the Upload Speed Experience award. 3 isn’t far behind with a score of 9.1 Mbps, while Vodafone trails its rivals because its users speeds were 1.4-2 Mbps slower.
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).
5G Experience
National Analysis
Our users had their best 5G Video Experience on 3 and eir’s networks, as the two operators had statistically tied scores around 75 points. Vodafone is in third place with a score of 70.2 points.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. 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 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network 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.
National Analysis
Vodafone and eir are joint winners of the 5G Games Experience award with statistically tied scores of around 85 points — putting them on the boundary between the Good (75-85) and Excellent (85 or above) categories. 3’s score of 71.5 points placed it in the Fair (65-75) category instead.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G 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 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Our users saw their best 5G Voice App Experience on eir and Vodafone’s networks, as the two operators’ scores were statistically tied at around 82 points. 3 is in third place with a score of 78.9. The winners placed in the Good (80-87) category, which means many users were satisfied, but minor quality impairments were experienced by some users. Our 3 users had an Acceptable (74-80) 5G Voice App Experience instead, which indicates that some of them were satisfied with their experience, but some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses 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. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
3 and eir are the joint winners of the 5G Download Speed award with statistically tied scores around 186 Mbps. Vodafone is in third place with a score of 92.4 Mbps – approximately half that of the two winners.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Our users on eir’s network observed the fastest average upload speeds when connected to 5G — 23.7 Mbps — making the operator the sole winner of the 5G Upload Speed award. 3 and Vodafone are both in second-place with statistically tied scores around 19 Mbps.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Coverage
3
eir
Vodafone
National Analysis
3 and Vodafone are joint winners of the Availability award with identical scores of 97.8%. This means that our users on the two operators’ networks spent only 2.2 per cent of their time either on 2G or without a mobile signal. The operator in third place is eir with a score of 95.7% — 2.1 percentage points behind the two winners.
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.
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 3 and eir users spent the largest proportion of their time connected to 5G out of the three operators, and as a result, the two operators are joint winners of the 5G Availability award with statistically tied scores of 9-11.4%. Vodafone is in last place with a score of 5.9%. With 5G users on all three operators spending the vast majority of their time connected to older mobile technologies it is clear that Ireland’s 5G rollout is still at a relatively early stage. Given the strong propagation characteristics of spectrum in the 700 MHz band, 5G Availability should improve once the licencing for this spectrum moves from the recently renewed temporary arrangement to a permanent one and the reduced uncertainty makes it easier for operators to make investment decisions around the deployment of this spectrum band.
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.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
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
The clear winner of the 5G Reach award is eir, with a score of 3.7 points on a 10 point scale – approximately double that of 3 and Vodafone, which are statistically tied for second place with scores of 1.7-1.8 points.
Definitions
5G Reach measures how users experience the geographical extent of an operator’s 5G network. It analyzes the average proportion of locations where users were connected to a 5G network out of all the locations those users have visited. In simple terms, 5G Reach measures the 5G mobile experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users – i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. 5G Reach for each operator is measured on a scale from 0 to 10.
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
3 is the outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award with a score of 73.5%, giving it a lead of 1.7 percentage points over second-placed eir’s score of 71.8%. Vodafone is in third place with a score of 68.1%.
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
Unlike Excellent Consistent Quality, 3 shares the Core Consistent Quality award with eir, as the two operators had statistically tied scores of 86.4-86.5%. Vodafone is in last place with a score of 85.3%, but is only around a percentage point behind the two front-runners.
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 user experience on every major network operator around the globe.
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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