Saudi Arabia
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.
Saudi Arabia
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
Mobily closes the gap with stc on overall and 5G Video Experience
The 5G Video Experience and overall Video Experience awards are now jointly won by Mobily and stc. In the last report, stc won both video categories outright. While stc’s video experience scores are little changed, Mobily users have seen an improvement in their experience, and as a result both operators are now statistically tied for both awards. Similarly, Mobily now forces a tie on the Voice App Experience awards with stc.
stc has the fastest mobile experience in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Impressively, stc wins all four speed awards in this report. Users saw the fastest overall and 5G average download and upload speeds. With a score of 254.8 Mbps stc has a clear margin in 5G Download Speed over second placed Mobily’s score of 213.1 Mbps with Zain in third place with 174.3 Mbps. The rankings are the same for overall Download Speed, with stc scoring 40.6 Mbps ahead of Mobily’s 33.2 Mbps and Zain on 19.2 Mbps.
Mobily has the most consistent experience
Mobily again wins both the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent quality awards in this report. This indicates Mobily users saw the greatest proportion of tests which met the minimum thresholds for both regular and more demanding mobile applications.
The best multiplayer gaming experience is with stc
Both the 5G Games Experience and overall Games Experience awards are won by stc. Mobily’s 5G Games Experience score of 66.1 is not far behind stc’s winning score of 68.4 but Zain trails with a score of 39. stc has a greater victory margin on overall Games Experience with a score of 55, again ahead of Mobily with 51.3 and Zain in third place with 34.7.
Zain catches up on 5G Availability and 5G Reach
Zain and stc now jointly win 5G Availability with statistically tied scores of 23.3-23.7%. This means that our stc and Zain users spent over one fifth of time with an active 5G connection. Previously, stc won this award outright. Similarly, Zain has now forced a three way tie on 5G Reach, where in the last report stc and Mobily jointly won the award.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) aims to continue the market momentum with 5G through new partnerships and investment. As part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, the aim is to use investments in research, development and investment to boost overall GDP by $16 billion by 2030. The plan is to make annual investment of 2.5% of GDP by 2040.
There are other market-wide initiatives underway to drive the 5G market forward. In July, the U.S. National Communications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Saudi Arabia agreed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation on 5G and 6G technologies. Specifically, the focus of the agreement was to boost the use of open radio access networks (ORAN) and by implication open the 5G network equipment market to a wider range of vendors driving down cost and increasing vendor competition.
KSA’s operators are already among the global 5G leaders. In Opensignal’s recent 5G Global Mobile Network Experience awards 2022 Saudi Arabia’s three operators secured seven 5G Global Impact awards — the improvement of 5G over 4G — as well as four 5G Global Rising Star awards for year-on-year improvement in the 5G experience, plus a 5G Global Leader award for 5G Availability.
In this fourth Opensignal report on the 5G experience within KSA, we again compare the three operators this time based on measurements taken in the 90 day period between July 1 and September 28, 2022. The awards for 5G and the overall experience are shared across all three operators. Mobily wins two awards outright, both for the consistency of the experience, and a further six joint wins. stc wins six awards outright including all the speed awards and both multiplayer gaming awards as well as seven joint wins. But Zain misses out on any sole wins, and must be content with two joint wins.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Mobily and stc are in a statistical tie and so jointly win the Video Experience award. Their scores of around 49 points are over 15 percentage points ahead of third placed Zain’s score of 32.8 on a 100 point scale.
The winning scores rate as Fair (40-55). This means that it is not a good experience either for higher resolution videos — slow loading times or prolonged stalling — or for some video streaming providers. However, the experience for lower resolution videos may be sufficient.
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
With a score of 55 points stc wins the award for multiplayer real-time gaming. Mobily is close behind in second place with 51.3 points but Zain lags with a score of 34.7.
To create the Games Experience award, Opensignal analyzed various genres of mobile game including battle royale (examples include PUBG and Fortnite), sports titles such as Pro Evolution Soccer, and massive multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) games such as Arena of Valor.
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
Both winning operators — Mobily and stc — for Voice App Experience ranked as Acceptable (74-80) meaning some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion were heard, or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. Listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition. Third placed Zain users had a Poor (66-74) Voice App Experience with a score of 66.9 on a 100 point scale.
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
With average overall download speeds of 40.6 Mbps, our users had the fastest Download Speed Experience using stc. Just over 7 Mbps behind was the speed seen by Mobily’s users while Zain users had average speeds (19.2 Mbps) under half as fast as winner stc.
The overall download speed of users that spent at least some of the time connected to 5G — what we call 5G Users — followed the same pattern across the three operators as the overall speeds of all users. Here stc’s 5G users experienced overall average speeds across all technology generations of 99.4 Mbps, ahead of Mobily’s users’ score of 80.9 Mbps and Zain on 62.1 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
stc wins the Upload Speed Experience award with a score of 10.7 Mbps. As with Download Speed Experience, Mobily ranked second with a score of 8.6 Mbps while Zain users had the third fastest average upload speed of 5.8 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
There are much higher video experience scores using 5G on all three operators compared with the overall Video Experience seen by our users across all technologies. Mobily and stc win the 5G Video Experience award with statistically tied scores slightly over 70 points on a 100 point scale. These winning scores (70.8-71.2) were over 42% higher than the overall Video Experience winning scores (48.7-49.7).
Zain is again in third place with a score of 63.2 on a 100 point scale. However, while this is behind the 5G Video Experience leaders, Zain’s score is still considerably higher than the 32.8 Zain scored in the overall Video Experience category which again highlights the value of 5G technology in boosting users’ mobile 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
stc wins the 5G Games Experience award with a score of 68.4 just ahead of Mobily’s score of 66.1. However, Zain loses out in this competition with a score of 39 on a 100 point scale.
The winning score of 68.4 experienced by stc users as well as the second placed score of 66.1 of Mobily rank as Fair (65-75). This means that 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
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
Two operators — Mobily and stc — jointly win the 5G Voice App Experience award with statistically tied scores of 80.4-80.7 on a 100 point scale that rate as Good (80-87). 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.
However, Zain’s score of 73.4 rated as Poor (66-74) meaning many users were dissatisfied and call quality impairments were experienced by many users.
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
Both our Mobily and stc users saw average 5G download speeds in excess of 200 Mbps. stc wins the 5G Download Speed award with a score of 254.8 Mbps ahead of Mobily’s score of 213.1 Mbps with Zain lagging with a still impressive speed of 174.3 having been experienced by our Zain users when connected with 5G technology.
The 5G Download Speed score was significantly faster than the overall Download Speed Experience on all three operators. Using stc and Mobily, 5G Download Speed was over six times faster than overall average download speeds while on third placed Zain it was over nine times faster. This means that although Zain lags in the actual speeds experienced, its users see the biggest increase in their average download speed when using 5G.
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
stc wins the 5G Upload Speed award with a score of 26.4 Mbps ahead of Mobily’s score of 22.4 Mps. High average upload speeds make it easier for users to post photos or videos to social media apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram or Youtube as well as helping business users to share office documents by email.
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
Mobily
stc
Zain
National Analysis
Impressively mobile users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spent almost all of the time with a mobile broadband connection. Mobily and stc’s winning Availability scores of 97.6-97.7%- are almost perfect while third placed Zain is under two percentage points behind with a score of 96%.
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
The time users spend with an active 5G connection is extremely important given the boost that 5G technology provides on different measures of the mobile network experience. Stc and Zain jointly win the 5G Availability award with statistically tied scores just over 23% — this means stc and Zain’s 5G users spent over a fifth of their time with an active 5G connection. Mobily is in third place with a still impressive 19.9%.
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
There is no statistical difference across the three operators in the proportion of locations where users saw a 5G signal. The three operators’ statistically tied scores of 4-4.4 on a 10 point scale indicated that in over 40% of the locations users visited they saw a 5G signal.
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
Mobily wins the Excellent Consistent Quality award with a score of 65%. This means that users had the greatest proportion of tests where the minimum thresholds for demanding applications were met using Mobily’s network.
Stc was second with a score of 56.6 and Zain was again in third place with a score of 37% as it is in many other awards in this report.
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
Similarly to Excellent Consistent Quality, Mobily also wins the award for Core Consistent Quality with a score of 83.8%. Stc and Zain are in second and third place, respectively with scores of 78.9% and 67.1%. The victory margin was narrower here in Core when compared with Excellent Consistent Quality, given Mobily’s winning score of 83.8% was under five points ahead, while the difference between first and second was 8.4 points for Excellent Consistent Quality.
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