Global Mobile Network Experience Awards 2023


February 2023

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing network experience. Opensignal reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience users receive on all types of connection.

Independent
Real-world experience
Scientific analysis
Author
Sam Fenwick
Senior Analyst

Key Findings

SK telecom users have the best overall multiplayer gaming experience

SK telecom is the outright Global Winner for Games Experience with an impressive score of 86.3 points on a 100-point scale, placing it in the Excellent (85 or above) category. Its two national rivals, LG U+ and KT, tie for second place with scores of 84.7-85.5 points. SK telecom’s score is 26 points above the global average of 60.3 points. 

The Global Winner for Download Speed Experience is SK telecom

Our SK telecom users see average overall download speeds of 131.7Mbps — making it the sole Global Winner for Download Speed Experience. SK telecom wins by an impressive margin, given second-placed KT’s score of 105.7Mbps — the only other operator to score above 100Mbps. The average download speeds seen by our SK telecom users are 4.2 times the global average of 31.5Mbps. 

3 Denmark comes top for Upload Speed Experience

Our 3 users in Denmark observe the fastest average overall upload speeds globally — an impressive 22.9Mbps — around 4.5Mbps faster than Swisscom and TDC Denmark’s statistically tied scores of 18.2- 18.6Mbps. The operator with the largest percentage improvement in its Upload Speed Experience between H2 2021 and H2 2022 is Ufone Pakistan with a spectacular rise of 77.2%.

Telia Finland and Telia Estonia jointly win Excellent Consistent Quality

Telia Finland is the sole Global Winner for Core Consistent Quality and in Excellent Consistent Quality it shares the award with Telia Estonia. This is the first time that either category has appeared in the Global Awards. The two operators win Excellent Consistent Quality with statistically tied scores of 90.8-91.1%. For Core Consistent Quality, Telia Finland wins outright with a score of 97.2%, narrowly ahead of TDC Denmark’s and Elisa Finland’s identical scores of 97%.

Operators from Denmark, Estonia, Japan, Lithuania and South Korea are Global Winners for Voice App Experience

Nine operators jointly win: 3 Denmark, Telia and BITĖ from Lithuania, all three South Korean operators (LG U+, KT, SK telecom), Japan’s au and NTT docomo, along with Estonia’s Telia. These operators have statistically tied scores for Voice App Experience.

Asia Pacific operators perform strongly on year-on- year improvement

Of the 83 operators that are a Global Rising Star in at least one category, 33.7% (28) hail from Asia Pacific, followed by 25.3% from Africa and the Middle East, 20.5% from Europe, and 19.3% from South and Central America. In total, 41.4% of all Global Rising Star awards are won by Asia Pacific operators. 

Ufone Pakistan is a Global Rising Star in all five categories

When we look at the percentage improvement in our users’ mobile experience over the last year, Pakistan’s Ufone has achieved an impressive feat; it is the only operator in the global top 30 in every category. Six operators are Global Rising Stars across four categories: Banglalink, WOM Colombia, Orange Egypt, Celcom and Yes in Malaysia, and Globe in the Philippines.

LG U+ users spend the most time using 4G or 5G

Our LG U+ users in South Korea spend 99.7% of their time connected to 4G or 5G, making the operator the Global Winner for Time on 4G/5G. India’s Jio and Japan’s au follow closely behind with statistically tied scores of 99.3-99.4%. The average Time on 4G/5G score across global operators is 88.9% — which LG U+ exceeds by 10.8 percentage points. Meanwhile, the operator with the largest year-on-year percentage increase in Time on 4G/5G is Iraq’s Asiacell with a rise of 23.6%.

11 operators share first place for Video Experience

The contest for Video Experience is so fierce that 11 operators are Global Winners with statistically tied scores of 66.7-71.1 points on a 100-point scale, far above the global average of 49.4 points. The Global Winners are: StarHub, Denmark’s 3 and TDC, The Netherlands’ KPN and T-Mobile, SK telecom, Norway’s Telenor and Telia, Telemach Croatia, Telia Lithuania, and Telia Estonia. 

Opensignal Limited retains ownership of this report including all intellectual property rights, data, content, graphs & analysis. Reports produced by Opensignal Limited may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed, or published for any commercial purpose (including use in advertisements or other promotional content) without prior written consent. Journalists are encouraged to quote information included in Opensignal reports provided they include clear source attribution. For more information, contact [email protected]

Read the full report