Kuwait
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.
Kuwait
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
Zain sees its only outright win for Download Speed Experience
Our users in Kuwait experienced the fastest average overall download speed on Zain’s network, clocking in at 45.5 Mbps. This gives the operator its only outright win this time around. Zain commanded a lead of 5.9 Mbps over second-placed Ooredoo. However, Ooredoo solely claims the other overall speed award — Upload Speed Experience — with a score of 14.9 Mbps, beating Zain by 1.4 Mbps.
Ooreedoo takes home both 5G speed awards
Ooredoo scores a double with two 5G speeds awards, as it wins both 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed outright, with scores of 331.9 Mbps and 29.8 Mbps respectively. The operator saw an impressive uplift with 5G — our users saw 8.4 times faster average download speeds when connected to 5G, compared to their overall Download Speed Experience. Zain and stc also saw sizable boosts in speeds on 5G, compared to the average overall speeds — six times and 5.2 times, respectively.
stc triumphs in both Consistency metrics
stc wins both Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards outright, with scores of 68.7% and 90.5% respectively — placing ahead of Zain in both categories. Excellent Consistent Quality reflects the percentage of users’ tests on operator networks meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. Core Consistent Quality measures the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.
Ooredoo wins both overall and 5G Games Experience awards outright
Ooreedoo takes the top spots in both metrics that quantify the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices. The operator wins Games Experience with a score of 65.2 points — the only operator in Kuwait to place in the Fair (65-75) category — 5.7 points ahead of the runner-up Zain. Both operators rated Fair in 5G Games Experience, as Ooreedoo wins this award outright, with a score of 74.2 points — just 0.8 points shy of a Good (75-85) rating.
stc and Zain users enjoyed an Excellent 5G Video Experience
stc and Zain jointly win both video experience awards — Video Experience and 5G Video Experience. Both operators claim Video Experience with statistically tied scores in the 54.7-56.1 points range. Zain and stc share the podium for 5G Video Experience, with scores in the 75.2-77.3 points range. This places them in the Excellent (75 or above) category, meaning fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling.
Our users in Kuwait remained connected to 5G services at least 28.9% of the time.
stc and Zain were in a statistical tie for the 5G Availability award and win it with scores in the 34.9-37.1% range. Ooredoo trailed behind, as our users on this network connected to 5G services on their 5G devices for 28.9% of the time. Noteworthy, our Kuwaiti users stay connected to 5G services for one of the highest amounts of time, globally. In our latest Benchmarking the Global 5G Experience report, Kuwait shared second place in the world for 5G Availability.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In Opensignal's latest Kuwait Mobile Network Experience report we analyze both the 5G experience and the overall experience together for the first time in one report. Also, we add two new awards that quantify the consistency of the experience on the country’s three national operators.
We saw a tightly fought competition for mobile network experience awards, with numerous joint wins between the operators. Ooredoo has the largest haul of awards, with five outright and three joint wins, out of 14 awards available. The operator wins both Games Experience awards and three out of four available speed awards. Zain wins seven awards in total, but only one outright — Download Speed Experience. The third Kuwaiti operator, stc, ends with seven wins, including two outright ones in both Consistency categories — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality.
Our Kuwaiti users enjoy a world-class 5G experience on their operators’ networks — as they see one of the fastest download speeds and remain connected to 5G services for the highest amounts of time worldwide. In our latest Benchmarking the Global 5G Experience report, Kuwait placed among top 15 global markets in 5G Download Speed and 5G Peak Download Speed categories — and also jointly took the second spot in 5G Availability, along with South Korea.
The reliance of Kuwaiti’s users on 5G services is also substantial — when announcing the planned launch of its Standalone 5G network in cooperation with Cisco, Zain revealed that its 5G non-standalone access network accounts for more than 40% of its total mobile and FWA traffic. The operator also claims to be the first carrier in the world to have launched commercial voice-over-5G (Vo5G) services with nationwide coverage. Meanwhile, stc claims to have covered 98% of the Kuwaiti population with its 5G footprint using over 1000 5G sites and deploying in the 2.1 GHz band.
In this report, we have analyzed the mobile network experience for Kuwait's three operators — Ooredoo, stc and Zain — over the 90 days starting April 1, 2022 and ending June 29, 2022.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
stc and Zain jointly win the Video Experience award, with statistically-tied scores in the 54.7-56.1 points range — 3-4.3 points ahead of third-placed Ooredoo.
Both operators were also in a statistical tie for Video Experience — 5G Users, with the scores in the 65.8-67.7 points range. Our 5G users saw their overall video experience scores improve by 11.1-11.7 points on both of these networks compared to the overall scores seen by our users on average. As a result, both operators placed in the Very Good (65-75 category). Compared to its competitors, Ooredoo saw a slightly smaller increase of 7.1 points.
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
Ooreedoo triumphs in Games Experience with a score of 65.2 points — 5.7 points ahead of the runner-up Zain and 10.1 points ahead third-placed stc. Ooredoo was the only operator in Kuwait to place in the Fair (65-75) category this time around. This means users found the experience to be average. The majority of players reported that they noticed a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Looking at Games Experience — 5G Users, Ooredoo scored the highest, 70.4 points. Meanwhile, stc and Zain had statistically similar scores, in the 59.8-63.9 points range.
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
Ooredoo and Zain jointly win the Voice App Experience award, after a statistical tie, with scores in the 77.9-78.2 points range. Their competitor stc followed closely behind, just around 1.1 points behind the winners, on average. All operators in Kuwait placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category. This means some users were satisfied, but some experienced perceptible call quality impairments.
In Voice App Experience — 5G Users, all Kuwaiti operators were in a three-way statistical tie, with scores averaging 78.7 points. All of them rated as Acceptable (74-80) — the same category as for overall users.
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
Zain wins its only award outright in Download Speed Experience, as our users in Kuwait experienced the fastest average overall download speed on this network, clocking in at 45.5 Mbps. Zain wins with a winning margin of 5.9 Mbps (14.9%) over second-placed Ooredoo, while stc comes third, with a score of 34.6 Mbps.
Turning to Download Speed Experience — 5G Users, our 5G users saw statistically similar overall experience when downloading data on Ooredoo and Zain’s networks — in the range of 128.1-128.7 Mbps. This means our Ooredoo and Zain 5G users saw uplifts of 3.3 and 2.8 times, respectively, compared to the overall experience of all of our 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
Ooredoo is the sole winner of the Upload Speed Experience award— with a score of 14.9 Mbps, as it commanded a lead of 1.4 Mbps over Zain — and of 2.3 Mbps over stc.
Ooredoo had the highest score of 17.7 Mbps in Upload Speed Experience — 5G Users. All operators saw less impressive uplifts from the overall experience of all users to the overall experience of 5G users, compared to Download Speed Experience — 5G Users. Ooredoo and Zain saw increases of 18.1% and 14.9%, while stc’s score wasn’t statistically different from its Upload Speed Experience result.
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
Compared to the overall Video Experience, all operators saw substantial increases in their scores, ranging from 19.7 to 21.3 points. Similar to the overall category, stc and Zain share the podium for 5G Video Experience, with scores in the 75.2-77.3 points range. This places them in the Excellent (75 or above) category, meaning fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling.
Ooredoo placed a category below, Very Good (65-75). This means generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling but the experience might have been somewhat inconsistent across users, video providers and resolutions.
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
Ooredoo is the sole winner of 5G Games Experience, with a score of 74.2 points — just 0.8 points shy of a Good (75-85) rating. Both Ooredoo and Zain placed in the Fair (65-75) category in 5G Games Experience. This means users found the experience to be average. The majority of players reported that they noticed a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
Looking at 5G to overall uplifts, Ooredoo saw the biggest increase of 9.1 points, compared to Games Experience — followed by Zain’s boost of 6.3 points.
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
Ooredoo, stc and Zain were all in a three-way statistical tie for the 5G Voice App Experience award, which resulted in a joint win for all Kuwaiti operators, with the scores in the 78-80.7 points range.
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
Ooredoo triumphs in 5G Download Speed with a score of 331.9 Mbps. Zain takes second place with a score of 272.4 Mbps — 59.5 Mbps behind the winner. Our users on stc’s network saw average 5G download speeds clocking in at 179.3 Mbps — slightly more than half than what our users on Ooredoo’s network enjoyed.
Ooredoo saw a stunning 5G to overall uplift — our users saw 8.4 times faster average download speeds when connected to 5G, compared to Ooredoo’s overall Download Speed Experience. Zain and stc also saw substantial increases in speeds on 5G, compared to the average overall speeds — six times and 5.2 times, respectively.
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
Ooredoo is the sole winner of the 5G Upload Speed award, with a score of 29.8 Mbps, just 0.2 Mbps shy of the 30 Mbps mark. Ooredoo beat statistically-tied Zain and stc by 6.7-9.3 Mbps. All operators hit the 20 Mbps mark for the average 5G upload speeds.
Looking at 5G to overall upload speed uplifts — our 5G users on Ooredoo’s 5G network enjoyed average 5G upload speeds that were nearly twice as fast as those seen by our overall users who connected to all mobile generations. By comparison, stc and Zain saw boosts in their 5G to overall upload speed scores by 62.9% and 70.9% respectively.
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
Ooredoo
stc
Zain
National Analysis
All three operators in Kuwait — Ooredoo, stc and Zain — win the Availability award, with statistically-tied, nearly perfect scores in the 98.8-99% range. This means our users in Kuwait were connected to either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection for at least 98.8% of the time, on average.
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
stc and Zain jointly win the 5G Availability award, with scores in the 34.9-37.1% range. Ooredoo followed closely, as our users on this network connected to 5G services on their 5G devices for 28.9% of the time.
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.
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
stc secures the Excellent Consistent Quality award with a score of 68.7%. This means it was the network that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls and gaming in 68.7% of users’ tests. The operator claims the top spot with a winning margin of seven percentage points over second-placed Zain and 8.6 percentage points over Ooredoo.
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
stc met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing in 90.5% of users’ tests — and finished first in Core Consistent Quality. stc commanded a lead of 1.4 points over the runner-up Zain and 10.5 points over Ooredoo.
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