Netherlands
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.
Netherlands
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
KPN wins the Excellent Consistent Quality award
KPN has replaced T-Mobile as the operator with the highest percentage of users’ tests passing the minimum recommended performance thresholds for demanding applications such as HD Video, group video conference calls and gaming. As a result, KPN is the new outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award. It wins with a score of 88.7%, giving it a lead of 0.4 percentage points over the former winner. This change was driven by a 2.3 percentage point drop in T-Mobile’s score. However, T-Mobile is still the outright winner of the other Consistency Award, Core Consistent Quality.
T-Mobile comes top for Availability
Our T-Mobile users spent the largest proportion of their time connected to a 3G or better signal — 99.1% — making T-Mobile the sole winner of the Availability award. T-Mobile wins by a margin of around 1.5 percentage points over its rivals, given KPN and Vodafone’s statistically tied scores of 97.5-97.7%.
KPN’s 5G Download Speed winning streak continues
This is the fourth report in which we have reported on the 5G Experience in the Netherlands and in all of them our KPN users have seen the fastest average 5G speeds. KPN wins the 5G Download Speed award this time around with a score of 171.1 Mbps, 28.9 Mbps (20.3%) higher than second-placed T-Mobile’s score of 142.2 Mbps. Vodafone is in last place with a score of 95.5 Mbps.
T-Mobile remains undefeated on 5G Availability
Similarly, T-Mobile has now won 5G Availability four times in a row. 5G Availability is the proportion of time that our 5G users, on average, spent with an active 5G connection. This time, T-Mobile wins with a score of 20.1%, giving it a lead of around 5.6 percentage points over KPN and Vodafone, which have statistically tied scores of 13.3-15.6%.
KPN and T-Mobile are unbeatable on Overall Experience
The battle over the Overall Experience categories was extremely close fought, with no outright wins. While Vodafone racked up three joint wins in this section, KPN and T-Mobile are joint winners in all five categories. Overall Experience metrics reflect the average experience of all of our users across all mobile technologies.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Our latest analysis of the Netherlands Mobile Network Experience reveals an incredibly hard-fought contest across the majority of categories, with joint winners in nine out of 14 categories, including all five for Overall Experience. Despite this, T-Mobile has narrowly racked up the largest number of awards, winning three awards outright (Availability, 5G Availability and Core Consistent Quality), along with nine joint wins. The next most awarded operator is KPN with nine joint wins and two outright victories — 5G Download Speed and Excellent Consistent Quality. Vodafone by contrast has had to settle for three joint wins across the three experiential categories in the Overall Experience section (Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience).
In this report, we've analyzed our data gathered in the 90 day period starting on May 1, 2022, and ending on July 29, 2022, to see how the Netherlands’ three national operators — KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone — stack up. We have used 5G measurements in addition to those from previous generations of mobile network technology when determining the overall scores for each award.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
All three of the Netherlands’ national operators are joint winners for Video Experience with statistically tied scores of 67.9-69.4 points on a 100 point scale. All three operators also have placed in the Very Good (65-75) category. This indicates generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling but the experience might have been somewhat inconsistent across users and/or video providers/resolutions.
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 Dutch users did not observe any statistically significant differences in their experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular networks between the country’s three national operators. As a result, KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone are joint winners of the Games Experience award with tied scores of 78.9-79.5 points on a 100 point scale.
Our Dutch users had a Good (75-85) Games Experience regardless of their choice of national operator. This means that most users deemed the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience was generally controllable and the user received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users did not experience a delay between their actions and 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
In an incredibly close contest, all three national operators — KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone — are joint winners of the Voice App Experience award with statistically tied scores of 80.9-81 points. This means that our Dutch users had a Good (80-87) Voice App Experience, regardless of their choice of operator.
A Good Voice App Experience means that many users were satisfied. Minor quality impairments were experienced by some users. Sometimes the background was not quite clear, it could have been either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion were very rarely present.
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
T-Mobile has forced a statistical tie with the previous winner, KPN, and as a result both operators are joint winners of the Download Speed Experience award with scores of 84.5-86 Mbps, while Vodafone is in third place with 60.7 Mbps. This change was principally driven by an 8.7 Mbps increase in the average download speeds seen by our T-Mobile users as there was no statistical difference between KPN’s score in this report and the previous one. The two front-runners commanded a lead of around 25 Mbps over Vodafone.
Turning to the overall experience of our 5G users, KPN and T-Mobile are statistically tied for first place for Download Speed Experience – 5G Users with scores of 98.6-102.7 Mbps, while Vodafone is in last place with 69.6 Mbps.
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
As is the case with Download Speed Experience, KPN and T-Mobile are joint winners of the Upload Speed Experience award, but this is unchanged from the last report. The two front-runners win with statistically tied scores of 16.2-16.7 Mbps, while Vodafone is in last place with 13.3 Mbps. All three operators’ scores were statistically unchanged from the previous report.
Looking at Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users, which reflects the overall experience of our 5G Users, T-Mobile is in first place with a score of 19.9 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).
5G Experience
National Analysis
KPN and T-Mobile share the 5G Video Experience award with statistically tied scores of 79.4-80.4 points on a 100 point scale. Vodafone is close behind the two winners, given its score of 78.1 points. All three operators placed in the Excellent (75 or above) category. This means that our Dutch users had a very consistent experience when connected to 5G across all video streaming providers and resolutions tested, with fast loading times and almost non-existent stalling.
Our users observed a significant improvement in their experience when streaming mobile video over 5G connections compared to that measured across all generations of mobile technology (Video Experience). KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile’s 5G Video Experience scores were 12.4, 10.2 and 10.1 points higher than those for Video Experience.
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
Our KPN and T-Mobile users had the best available experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G connections, making KPN and T-Mobile joint winners of the 5G Games Experience award. This is in contrast to the previous report, in which KPN won the award outright. The two operators share the award with statistically tied scores of 84-86.2 points on a 100 point scale, while Vodafone is in last place with 82.1 points.
Users on all three operators observed significantly higher 5G Games Experience scores than they saw in overall Games Experience. KPN, T-Mobile and Vodafone users saw improvements of 6.7, 5.1 and 3 points, respectively.
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
KPN and T-Mobile are joint winners of the 5G Voice App Experience award, as they were in the previous report, this time with statistically tied scores of 82.7-83 points on a 100 point scale. Vodafone is in last place with 81.2 points.
This means that our Dutch users had a Good (80-87) experience when using over-the-top voice apps over 5G networks, regardless of their choice of operator — many users were satisfied. Minor quality impairments were experienced by some users. Sometimes the background was not quite clear, it could have been either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion were very rarely present.
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
KPN is once again the outright winner of the 5G Download Speed award. It wins this time with a score of 171.1 Mbps, giving it a lead of 28.9 Mbps over second placed T-Mobile’s 142.2 Mbps. Vodafone is in last place with 95.5 Mbps. However, KPN’s lead has nearly halved since the last report, when it won by a margin of 55.5 Mbps. This is because the average 5G download speeds seen by our KPN users fell by 15.9 Mbps, while those seen by T-Mobile and Vodafone users rose by 10.7 Mbps and 19.2 Mbps, respectively.
KPN users saw the greatest improvement in their download speeds when we compare their 5G Download Speed score against their Download Speed Experience — the average speeds seen when connected to 5G were double the average speeds seen across all generations of network technology. T-Mobile and Vodafone users saw more modest increases of 1.7 and 1.6 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
As was the case in the last report, KPN and T-Mobile are statistically tied for first place in the 5G Upload Speed award and therefore remain joint winners. They win with scores of 39.7-39.9 Mbps, while Vodafone is some way behind as users experienced average speeds of 25.1 Mbps. Only our KPN users observed a significant change in their average 5G upload speeds since the previous report, seeing a decline of 3.1 Mbps.
When we compare our users’ 5G Upload Speed score against their Upload Speed Experience — the average speeds seen by KPN users when connected to 5G were 2.5 times faster than their average speeds seen across all generations of network technology. T-Mobile and Vodafone users saw increases of 2.4 and 1.9 times, 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
KPN
T-Mobile
Vodafone
National Analysis
T-Mobile wins the Availability award outright with a score of 99.1%. This means that our T-Mobile users were connected to a 3G or better signal for 99.1% of the time. Vodafone and KPN are statistically tied for second place with scores of 97.5-97.7%.
T-Mobile’s sole victory is a change from the last report, when T-Mobile shared this award with KPN. T-Mobile’s outright win this time around was mainly driven by a 1.3 percentage point decline in KPN’s score, as our T-Mobile and Vodafone users did not observe any statistically significant changes in their experience.
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
T-Mobile remains the sole winner of the 5G Availability award as our 5G users on its network continued to spend the greatest proportion of their time with an active 5G connection. The operator wins with a score of 20.1%, around 5.6 points ahead of KPN and Vodafone, given their statistically tied scores of 13.3-15.6%.
However, the runners-up are gaining ground at T-Mobile’s expense. While T-Mobile’s score is statistically unchanged from the last report, KPN and Vodafone’s scores rose by 3.4 and 2.8 percentage points respectively.
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.
Consistency
National Analysis
KPN is the new sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award, replacing T-Mobile which won the award in the previous report. KPN’s victory was driven by a 2.3 percentage point drop in T-Mobile’s score. KPN wins with a score of 88.7% and a modest lead of 0.4 percentage points over second placed T-Mobile’s 88.3%. Vodafone is in last place with 87.5%.
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
T-Mobile retains the Core Consistent Quality award due to its score of 93.9%, which gives it a lead of at least 0.5 percentage points over its rivals, KPN and Vodafone, which are statistically tied for second place with scores of 93.3-93.4%.
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