Qatar
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.
Qatar
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.
Key Findings
Ooredoo users have the most consistent experience in Qatar
Ooredoo wins both Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards. Our Ooredoo users registered 70.7% of tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for common demanding applications such as watching HD video, and met the criteria for lower demanding usage cases in 79.1% of the conducted tests. In these metrics, Ooredoo led Vodafone by 14.2 percentage points and 10.4 percentage points respectively.
Vodafone wins all the coverage awards
Vodafone takes outright wins for all of our metrics in the coverage category. These include Availability, which measures the proportion of the time our users were connected to either 3G/4G/5G networks (with a score of 99%); 5G Availability, the proportion of the time 5G users had an active 5G connection (16.8%); and 5G Reach, which analyzes the average proportion of locations where users were connected to a 5G network out of all the locations those users have visited (5.6 points on a 10-point scale).
Ooredoo users enjoy the fastest speeds in Qatar
Ooredoo wins both overall speed experience awards – Download Speed Experience & Upload Speed Experience, as well as those for the 5G Experience – 5G Download Speed and 5G Upload Speed. Our Ooredoo users observe overall download speeds of 57Mbps (18.5Mbps ahead of Vodafone), and 371.5Mbps when connected to 5G (111.7Mbps ahead of Vodafone).
Ooredoo wins outright across overall experience
Ooredoo wins all three experiential awards, when looking at the overall user experience on the network: Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience. This time round, Ooredoo places in the Good (58-68) category for Video Experience, with a score of 60.8 on a 100-point scale, and wins by a convincing margin — 11.2 points (22.6%) higher than Vodafone’s 49.6 points.
Vodafone and Ooredoo jointly win 5G Games Experience and 5G Voice App Experience
Vodafone and Ooredoo share the two awards for 5G multiplayer gaming experience, and for using over-the-top voice apps when connected to 5G. User experience is seen as Fair (65-75) when playing games, and Good (80-87) when making voice calls on both of the operators in Qatar.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In Opensignal's latest Mobile Network Experience report for Qatar, Ooredoo continues to win the lion's share of awards. Ooredoo has improved its position for overall experience – the operator now wins all of five awards outright, an improvement from the last report when Games Experience and Voice App Experience were shared with Vodafone. It also now wins the 5G Upload Speed award outright, rather than being a joint winner alongside Vodafone. Ooredoo, however, has lost all three shared wins across coverage metrics, which are now solely won by Vodafone. The consistency category is unchanged – Ooredoo continues to win the two available awards.
Qatar features among the leading networks in the region – our users in Africa and the Middle East observed the fastest download speeds on Ooredoo Qatar’s network in the second half of 2022, as has been reported in Opensignal’s Global Mobile Network Experience Awards 2023. Qatar still continues to seek to further improve and modernise its mobile networks. In February 2023, Ooredoo Qatar together with Ericsson, deployed an AI driven solution to analyze the operator’s radio access network (RAN) and optimize it to improve the customer experience and reduce operating costs. In the same month, Ooredoo Qatar further partnered with TEOCO, which offers analytics, assurance, planning and optimisation solutions for mobile networks.
Qatar recently hosted the 2022 football World Cup, for which matches ran from November 20 to December 18, 2022. Ooredoo disclosed statistics around mobile usage following the World Cup, citing that 646,000 fans of the 3.4 million fans that attended used roaming and that the call success rate was 99.95% during the 64 matches that took place.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the two main mobile network operators in Qatar — Ooredoo and Vodafone — over a period of 90 days starting on January 1, 2023 and ending on March 31, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Ooredoo is the outright winner of the Video Experience award with a score of 60.8 points on a 100-point scale, placing it in the Good (58-68) category. It wins by a convincing margin — 11.2 points (22.6%) higher than of second placed Vodafone’s 49.6 points. This is the eighth consecutive mobile network experience report, in which Ooredoo wins the Video Experience award in Qatar.
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.
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
Ooredoo wins Games Experience award by a narrow margin as it scores 60.6 points on a 100-point scale for our users’ experience while playing multiplayer mobile games on its network, while Vodafone is close behind with 59.5 points. Previously, both operators jointly won the Games Experience award.
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
Ooredoo wins the Voice App Experience award, moving out of the statistically tied deadlock observed in the last three reports. Ooredoo scores 79.1 on a 100-point scale, just ahead of Vodafone’s score of 78.7. Both operators place in the Acceptable category (74-80) meaning that perceptible call quality impairments are experienced by some users but listeners are generally able to comprehend without repetition. Previously, both operators jointly won the Voice App Experience award.
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
Our users observe the fastest average overall download speeds on Ooredoo’s network, with 57Mbps. This speed is 18.5Mbps (47.9%) faster than second placed Vodafone’s score of 38.5Mbps. As a result, Ooredoo is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award.
Ooredoo’s Download Speed Experience has been trending upwards since Opensignal started reporting on the country in 2019. This time our Ooredoo users saw a 6.1Mbps (12%) increase in speed since the last report, with Vodafone also showing improvement with an increase of 6Mbps (18.4%). This is the eighth consecutive mobile network experience report, where Ooredoo wins the Download Speed Experience award in Qatar.
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
Our Ooredoo users observe the fastest average overall upload speeds — 15.9Mbps — making Ooredoo the sole winner of the Upload Speed Experience award. Ooredoo wins with a lead of 5.3Mbps over Vodafone, given the latter’s speed of 10.6Mbps.
Both Ooredoo’s and Vodafone’s Upload Speed Experience scores have improved since the last report, by 2Mbps (14.7%) and 1Mbps (10.4%) respectively. This is the eighth consecutive Mobile Network Experience report, where Ooredoo wins the Upload Speed Experience award in Qatar.
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
Ooredoo wins the 5G Video Experience award, with a score of 66.6 points, on a 100-point scale – 8.9 points ahead of Vodafone’s score of 57.7. Ooredoo receives a Good rating (58-68) in 5G Video Experience, while Vodafone earned a Fair rating (48-58).
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.
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
Ooredoo and Vodafone both share the 5G Games Experience award in Qatar. Our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience when connected to 5G are statistically similar on Qatar’s two national operators, tied with scores of 65.3-66.5 points. This places the experience on the two operators in the Fair (65-75) category.
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
Ooredoo and Vodafone both share the 5G Voice App Experience award in Qatar. Our users’ 5G Voice App Experience is statistically similar on Qatar’s two national networks, tied with scores of 80.3-80.5 points. This places the experience for our Qatari users in the Good (80-87) category, regardless of their choice of opeator.
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
Our Ooredoo users see the fastest average 5G download speeds in Qatar — 371.5Mbps, making Ooredoo the sole winner of the 5G Download Speed award. Ooredoo’s score is 111.7Mbps higher than Vodafone, given the latter's score of 259.8Mbps. These speeds only reflect tests when users were connected to 5G.
Vodafone registers improved 5G Download Speed since the last report, with 34.6Mbps (15.4%) faster measured speeds. Ooredoo did not register any reportable improvement in speed, but is still far ahead of its rival – winning the 5G Download Speed award for the third time in a row and ever since it was first reported in Qatar.
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
Our Ooredoo users’ see the fastest average 5G upload speeds in Qatar at 37.1Mbps, ahead of Vodafone’s score of 24.9Mbps. Ooredoo therefore wins the 5G Upload Speed award, with a lead of 12.2Mbps.
Ooredoo users’ average 5G upload speeds have risen by 5.4Mbps (17.2%) since the last report, while Vodafone users have not seen a statistically significant difference. In the previous two reports,, the 5G Upload Speed award was shared between Ooredoo and Vodafone as their scores were statistically tied.
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
Ooredoo
Vodafone
National Analysis
Vodafone wins the Availability award, with a score of 99%. Ooredoo follows slightly behind with 98.5%. This score represents the share of time that our users spend connected to either 3G, 4G, or 5G, on each operator’s network. Vodafone sees its score improved by 1.1 percentage points since the last report, while there is no statistically significant change in Ooredoo’s score. In the last two reports,, the award was shared between the two operators.
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.
National Analysis
Vodafone wins the 5G Availability award, with a score of 16.8%. Ooredoo follows slightly behind with 14.5%. This score represents the share of time that our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection. This an improvement for Vodafone from the last mobile network experience report, when the award was shared between the two operators.
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.
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.
National Analysis
Vodafone wins the 5G Reach award, with a score of 5.6 on a 10-point scale. Ooredoo is behind by 0.5 points, with a score of 5.1 out of 10. In the last report, both operators shared the award with statistically tied scores.
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.
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.
Consistency
National Analysis
Ooredoo is the sole winner of the Excellent Consistent Quality award with its score of 70.7%, 14.2 percentage points higher than that of second-placed Vodafone’s 56.6%. Ooredoo is the operator with the highest proportion of our users’ tests that meet the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. Ooredoo wins Excellent Consistent Quality award for the third time in a row, since the metric started to be reported in Opensignal mobile network experience reports.
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
As is the case with Excellent Consistent Quality, Ooredoo is the outright winner of the Core Consistent Quality award — it meets the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing for the highest proportion of users' tests at 79.1%. However, Ooredoo’s lead on Vodafone is smaller than in the case of Excellent Consistent Quality — 10.4 percentage points — as Vodafone scored 68.7%.
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 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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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