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El Salvador

Mobile Network Experience Report
December 2022

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.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Senior Analyst Data Collection Period: Aug 01 - Oct 29, 2022

El Salvador

Mobile Network Experience Report
December 2022

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.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Senior Analyst

Data Collection Period: Aug 01 - Oct 29, 2022

Key Findings

Claro users have the fastest experience in El Salvador

Claro is now the outright winner of both the Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards for the second report in a row. This time, our Claro users observed average download speeds of 25 Mbps, 9.4 Mbps (60.2%) faster than second placed Tigo’s score of 15.6 Mbps. Claro wins Upload Speed Experience with a score of 11.2 Mbps — up an impressive 1.7 Mbps (18.1%) from the last report and around 4 Mbps faster than Digicel and Tigo’s statistically tied scores of 7-7.4 Mbps.

Tigo forces a tie with Claro for Core Consistent Quality

Claro and Tigo are joint winners of the Core Consistent Quality award with identical scores of 81.2%. This means that 81.2% of tests from our users on both operators met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing. This is a change from the last report when Claro won the award outright. However, Claro remains the sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award.

Claro stays on the top spot for Availability

Our Claro users continued to spend the highest proportion of time in El Salvador with a 3G or better connection, and as a result Claro remains the outright winner of the Availability award. This time it wins with a score of 97.7% and a lead of 1.7 percentage points over second placed Tigo’s 96%.

The best mobile video streaming experience is with Claro

Claro remains the outright winner of the Video Experience award, as our Claro users had the best available experience when streaming video over cellular connections. Claro wins this time with a score of 48.5 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of around 7.7 points, as Digicel and Tigo share second place due to a statistical tie with scores of 39.2-42.5 points.

Tigo catches up with Claro and Digicel on Games Experience

Tigo has joined Claro and Digicel on the winners’ podium for Games Experience due to an impressive 8.9 point (22.2%) increase in its score since the previous report, while our Claro and Digicel users did not observe a statistically significant difference in their experience over the same period. In addition, Movistar is catching up with the rest of the pack as its score has increased by 10.1 points (30.4%) compared with the last report.

Mobile Experience Awards

December 2022, El Salvador Report
Download Image

Market Overview

As was the case last time around, Claro takes the lion’s share of awards. It either wins or jointly wins across all 10 categories. It wins five awards outright (Video Experience, Download Speed Experience, Upload Speed Experience, Availability and Excellent Consistent Quality) and is a joint winner in a further five categories. However, Claro hasn’t had everything its way — Tigo now ties with it for Core Consistent Quality instead of Claro winning the award outright, as was the case in the last report.

Tigo has the next largest haul, being a joint winner alongside Claro in four categories and being part of a three-way tie with Claro and Digicel for Games Experience — the only accolade Digicel has picked up this time.

While Movistar remains in last place (or tied for it) across most categories, our Movistar users have seen some significant improvements in their mobile experience compared to the last report. Its Games Experience, Voice App Experience and Download Speed Experience scores have risen by 10.1 points (30.4%), 7.2 points (11.4%) and 2.9 Mbps (39.4%) respectively. The operator’s CEO said in September 2022 that it has begun deploying its 5G-ready network and will initially invest $280 million in its rollout, with the launch of commercial services to take place once the required spectrum is available.

In this Opensignal report on El Salvador, we examine the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators: Claro, Digicel, Movistar and Tigo, over a period of 90 days starting on August 1, 2022 and ending on October 29, 2022, to see how they performed.

Overall Experience
Coverage
Consistency
Video Experience
Games Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Claro
48.5
Digicel
42.5
Movistar
30.3
Tigo
39.2
014284256
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Games Experience
in 0-100 points
Claro
53.3
Digicel
50.2
Movistar
43.4
Tigo
49.1
015304560
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
Claro
74.1
Digicel
70.8
Movistar
70.1
Tigo
74.4
020406080
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Claro
25.0
Digicel
13.2
Movistar
10.4
Tigo
15.6
07.51522.530
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Claro
11.2
Digicel
7.0
Movistar
4.5
Tigo
7.4
0481216
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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).

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Claro

Digicel

Movistar

Tigo

Availability
4G Availability
4G Coverage Experience
Availability
% of time
Claro
97.7
Digicel
92.3
Movistar
93.7
Tigo
96.0
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
4G Availability
% of time
Claro
86.2
Digicel
68.6
Movistar
66.2
Tigo
84.9
022.54567.590
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
4G Coverage Experience
in 0-10 points
Claro
6.0
Digicel
2.9
Movistar
4.5
Tigo
6.0
02468
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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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.

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Definitions

Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.

We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.

Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.

4G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 4G device and a 4G subscription — but have never connected to 5G — had a 4G connection.

Map Definition

The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.

Learn more

Definitions

4G Coverage Experience measures how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.

In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.

Map Definition

The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.

Learn more

Excellent Consistent Quality
Core Consistent Quality
Excellent Consistent Quality
% of tests
Claro
68.0
Digicel
62.9
Movistar
45.8
Tigo
58.5
017.53552.570
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Core Consistent Quality
% of tests
Claro
81.2
Digicel
80.4
Movistar
75.2
Tigo
81.2
021.54364.586
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

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.

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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.

Learn more

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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