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.
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.
One NZ is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award, coming top with a score of 42.6Mbps and a lead of 2.8Mbps over second-placed Spark’s 39.8Mbps. 2degrees is in third place with 33.8Mbps. This is a change from the last report when One NZ (then Vodafone) and Spark shared the award.
Our 2degrees users have the best experience in New Zealand when streaming mobile video — across all mobile technology generations and when connected to 5G. 2degrees is therefore the outright winner of both the Video Experience and 5G Video Experience awards. It comes top for Video Experience with a score of 65.8 points on a 100-point scale, giving a lead of around 2.6 points over One NZ’s and Spark’s statistically tied scores of 62.9-63.6 points. 2degrees scores 77.1 points for 5G Video Experience, while Spark and One NZ follow behind with scores of 74.7 and 72.4 points, respectively.
Spark has replaced 2degrees as the outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award, as while all three operators’ scores have fallen since the previous report, Spark’s fell the least. Spark wins the award with a score of 73.2%, giving it a lead of around 1.4 percentage points over One NZ’s and 2degrees’ statistically tied scores of 71.8-71.9%. 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.
2degrees is the outright winner of the 5G Games Experience award and wins by an impressive margin, as its score of 86.6 points on a 100-point scale is around 8.4 points ahead of One NZ’s and Spark’s statistically tied scores of 77.8-78.6 points. In addition, 2degrees is the only Kiwi operator that places in the Excellent (85 or above) category, as its rivals place one category lower — Good (75-85).
2degrees is the outright winner of both the Upload Speed Experience and 5G Upload Speed awards. This means that our 2degrees users see the fastest average upload speeds in the country, both when measured across all generations of mobile network technology and on 5G connections. The operator wins Upload Speed Experience with a score of 10Mbps and a lead of 0.6Mbps over second-placed One NZ. Our 2degrees users see average 5G upload speeds of 31.6Mbps, around 11.7Mbps faster than those on One NZ and Spark, given their statistically tied scores of 19.4-20.4Mbps.
2degrees again has the largest haul of awards, winning 11 either outright or jointly. This is down slightly from the 12 it won in the previous report, but it now wins five awards outright (up from four). 2degrees is the outright winner of the Video Experience, 5G Video Experience, 5G Games Experience, Upload Speed Experience and 5G Upload Speed awards and ties with one or more other operators in a further six categories. While four out of five of its outright wins are new, it now ties with One NZ for 5G Download Speed and has lost its hold on the consistency awards. Spark and One NZ now win the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards, respectively.
One NZ has the second largest clutch of awards, picking up two outright wins — including Download Speed Experience — and six joint wins. Spark is also the outright winner in two categories — 4G Coverage Experience and Excellent Consistent Quality and is a joint winner in four categories.
Spark announced in March 2023 that it will shut down its 3G network in late 2025 and said that doing so will free up the low band 850MHz spectrum it needs to support its 5G rollout in rural Aotearoa. According to the operator, only 4% of its total network data traffic runs over 3G.
On the same day that One NZ assumed its new identity — replacing the Vodafone brand — the operator announced that it is collaborating with SpaceX to use the latter’s Starlink constellation to provide its mobile users with satellite connectivity, as a means of providing coverage in remote areas. According to the announcement, SpaceX’s satellites will be able to provide connectivity in late 2024 — initially supporting text and multimedia messaging service (MMS).
Similarly, 2degrees has announced that it and Lynk, another low-earth-orbit satellite provider, are trialing the use of satellite connectivity to provide smartphone users with a text messaging service. However, current satellite connectivity cannot yet replace 5G, 4G, or even 3G for mobile data connectivity used for apps, gaming, or video streaming. Instead, the initially planned satellite services focus on messaging-type communications to add service in areas where the cellular network does not yet reach.
In this report, we’ve analyzed the national mobile network experience provided by New Zealand’s three operators — One NZ (formerly Vodafone), Spark and 2degrees — in the 90 days starting on January 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2023.
During this period, the upper north island of New Zealand, particularly the Auckland, area was hit by heavy flooding (late January to early February). Due to Cyclone Gabrielle, between the 12th and 14th of February, parts of Aotearoa New Zealand recorded rainfall amounts of 300-400mm along with wind gusts of 130-140km/h. This knocked out hundreds of cell sites across the island and damaged fiber links. Mobile operators responded by setting up temporary satellite links to provide voice and text messaging services.
The permanent satellite connectivity services being developed by One NZ and 2degrees mentioned earlier will make it easier for them to provide basic connectivity during future natural disasters.
2degrees is the new outright winner of the Video Experience award. It wins with a score of 65.8 points on a 100-point scale, giving it a lead of around 2.6 points over One NZ’s and Spark’s statistically tied scores of 62.9-63.6 points. However, all three operators place in the Good (58-68) category.
This means that our Kiwi users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling — regardless of their choice of operator.
Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
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:
2degrees and One NZ remain joint winners of the Games Experience award, sharing the award this time with statistically tied scores of 70.9-71 points on a 100-point scale. Spark follows some way behind with a score of 65.6 points.
Regardless of their choice of operator our users in New Zealand have a Fair (65-75) Games Experience. This means that users find their experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users feeling like they have control over the game. The majority of players notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
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:
There is one less operator on the winners’ podium for Voice App Experience, as the three-way tie that our users observed in the last report has narrowed to one between 2degrees and One NZ. The two operators share the Voice App Experience award with statistically tied scores of 79.4-79.8 points on a 100-point scale. Spark is in last place with 78.6 points.
All three operators remain in the Acceptable (74-80) category. This means that some of our Kiwi users are satisfied. Perceptible call quality impairments are experienced by some users. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion are heard, and/or the volume may not be sufficiently loud. Listeners are generally able to comprehend without repetition.
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:
One NZ wins the Download Speed Experience award outright — a change from the previous report when One NZ (then Vodafone) and Spark were statistically tied for first place. Our One NZ users see average overall download speeds of 42.6Mbps — 2.8Mbps (6.9%) faster than the speeds seen by users on second-placed Spark. 2degrees is in third place with 33.8Mbps.
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:
2degrees is the outright winner of the Upload Speed Experience award as our 2degrees users see the fastest average upload speeds in the country, when measured across all generations of mobile network technology. The operator wins Upload Speed Experience with a score of 10Mbps and a lead of 0.6Mbps over second-placed One NZ, given the latter’s score of 9.4Mbps. Spark is in third place with 7.9Mbps.
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:
2degrees has gone from sharing the 5G Video Experience award with Spark in the last report, to winning it outright. 2degrees wins with a score of 77.1 points, while Spark and One NZ follow behind with scores of 74.7 and 72.4 points, respectively.
All three operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category for our users’ experience when streaming mobile video over 5G connections. This means that they are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Our users saw an impressive uplift in their video experience when we compare that seen when connected to 5G against that across all generations of mobile technology. Operators’ 5G Video Experience scores were 8.8-11.9 points higher than those for Video Experience and their Very Good ratings for 5G Video Experience are one category above their Good (58-68) ratings for Video Experience.
5G Video Experience scores account for adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), a technology that allows Opensignal to accurately represent users’ real video experience including video streams up to 4K quality.
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.
The three-way statistical tie that our users reported for 5G Games Experience in the previous report is no more, with 2degrees winning the award outright — and by an impressive margin. It scores 86.6 points on a 100-point scale, which is around 8.4 points higher than One NZ’s and Spark’s statistically tied scores of 77.8-78.6 points.
2degrees places in the Excellent (85 or above) category, while One NZ and Spark place one category lower — Good (75-85). An Excellent rating means that the vast majority of our users deem this network experience acceptable. Nearly all of them feel like they have control over the game and they receive immediate feedback on their actions. There is not a noticeable delay in almost all cases.
When we look at the uplift between our users’ 5G Games Experience and their overall Games Experience, 2degrees users see the largest improvement — an increase of 15.6 points, while our Spark and One NZ users see rises of 13.1 and 6.9 points, respectively.
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.
As was the case in the last report, all three Kiwi operators share the 5G Voice App Experience award. This time they do so with statistically tied scores of 82.8-83.3 points on a 100-point scale. 2degrees, One NZ and Vodafone all remain in the Good (80-87) category.
This means that many users are satisfied with their experience when using over-the-top apps over 5G connections. However, minor quality impairments are experienced by some users. Sometimes the background is not quite clear and clicking sounds or distortion are very rarely present.
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.
2degrees has gone from winning the 5G Download Speed award outright in the last report, to sharing it with One NZ as the two operators have statistically tied scores of 258.4-269Mbps, giving them a significant lead over Spark’s 224.1Mbps.
Our 2degrees users continue to see the largest uplift when we compare our users’ 5G download speeds against their overall download speeds — the operator’s 5G Download Speed score is 7.9 times faster than that for Download Speed Experience, while One NZ and Spark users reported uplifts of 6.1 and 5.6 times, respectively.
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).
2degrees remains the outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award. It wins this time with a score of 31.6Mbps, around 11.7Mbps faster than One NZ and Spark’s statistically tied scores of 19.4-20.4Mbps.
In terms of the difference between users’ 5G upload speeds and their upload speeds measured across all generations of mobile technology, our 2degrees users continue to see the largest improvement, as the operator’s 5G Upload Speed score is 3.2 times higher than that for Upload Speed Experience. Spark and One NZ users saw improvements of 2.5 and 2.2 times, respectively.
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).
Spark and 2degrees share the Availability award with statistically tied scores of 98.9-99.1%, while One NZ is in last place with 98.2%. This is a change from the previous report when Spark was the outright winner. Availability measures the proportion of time that our users are connected to a 3G or better signal.
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.
As was the case last time, all three operators are joint winners of the 5G Availability award. This time they have statistically tied scores of 5.7-6.9% — the proportion of time that our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection. 5G Availability is an important measure of the mobile experience as users can only benefit from the superior speeds and performance they see with 5G when they have a 5G connection.
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.
One NZ and Spark share the 5G Reach award with statistically tied scores of 3.1-3.4 points on a 10-point scale, while 2degrees is some way behind the front-runners with a score of two points.
This is not surprising, given that 2degrees launched 5G later than its rivals — and therefore has had less time to roll out its 5G network. The operator launched 5G in late February 2022, while Vodafone went live with a 5G mobile service in December 2019 and Spark launched its 5G mobile service in July 2020.
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.
Spark remains the outright winner of the 4G Coverage Experience award, winning this time with a score of 9.4 points on a 10-point scale. One NZ is in second place with 9.1 points, while 2degrees brings up the rear with 8.7 points.
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.
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.
Spark is the new outright winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award, having relegated the previous winner, 2degrees, to joint second place. Spark wins the award with a score of 73.2%, giving it a lead of around 1.4 percentage points over One NZ’s and 2degrees’ statistically tied scores of 71.8-71.9%. Spark’s victory is driven by the fact that while all three operators’ scores have fallen since the previous report, its fell the least — dropping by 2.3 percentage points, while our 2degrees and One NZ users reported declines of five and 3.2 percentage points, respectively.
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.
One NZ wins Core Consistent Quality outright — doing so with a score of 85.1%, giving it a lead of around one percentage point over 2degrees and Spark, given their statistically tied scores of 83.8-84.3%. This is a change from the previous report, when 2degrees was the sole winner. One NZ wins this time as its score is statistically unchanged from the previous report, while 2degrees’ and Spark’s scores have dropped by 4.9 and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.
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.
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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