Uruguay
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.
Uruguay
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
The fastest experience is with Antel
Antel continues to dominate on speed in Uruguay, winning both Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards. Our Antel users’ average download speeds have improved by 3.3Mbps (13.6%) since the previous report, to reach 27.7Mbps. Antel now leads second-placed Movistar by 7.9Mbps, up from the 4.1Mbps seen in the previous report.
Claro and Movistar are the joint winners of the Availability award
Our users in Uruguay connect to 3G or better service for at least 98.4% of the time. Claro and Movistar are the joint winners of the Availability award – both operators claim the award with statistically tied scores of 99-99.2%. Antel brings up the rear, with a score of 98.4% — but our Antel users saw a modest improvement of 0.4 percentage points, compared to the previous report, with the operator closing in on the leaders.
Our Antel users connect to 4G in most locations
Antel wins 4G Coverage Experience outright, with a score of 9.4 points on a 10-point scale. This means our users on Antel’s network connect to 4G service in more than nine out of 10 locations visited by all our Uruguayan users. Antel commands a lead of 0.5 points over the runner-up Movistar.
Claro now has the most consistent experience in Uruguay
Claro continues to come top for Excellent Consistent Quality, winning the award for the third time in a row in Opensignal mobile network experience reports. Its mobile network met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for HD video, group video conference calls and gaming in 77.8% of our users’ tests — 4.3 percentage points ahead of the runner-up Antel. Claro also wins the Core Consistent Quality award outright, which was won by Movistar in the previous two reports. Claro meets the minimum recommended performance thresholds for less demanding applications in 88.9% of users’ tests.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Antel defends its joint win for Video Experience, and three outright wins from the previous report, for both speeds metrics – Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards, and one for coverage – 4G Coverage Experience. Claro is now ahead in the market in terms of total wins (four joint wins and two outright wins), as it is the new winner of the Core Consistent Quality award (replacing Movistar) and statistically ties with Movistar for first place for Games Experience and Voice App Experience. As a result, Movistar does not claim any outright victories in this report.
Uruguay is now preparing to hold an imminent 5G auction, after specifications were cleared at the end of March 2023. Organized by the regulatory body URSEC (Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones), the spectrum lots within the 3.5GHz band will be allocated to the highest bidders for 25 years, with deployment conditions specified under the terms of the auction.
Our results in this report are based on measurements collected across all major mobile operators in Uruguay – Antel, Claro and Movistar – over the period of 90 days between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Antel, Claro and Movistar are all joint winners of Video Experience, with scores of 63.1-63.4 points. The winners are unchanged from the previous report.
Our users’ experience on all operators in Uruguay places in the Good (58-68) category. This means our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
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
Movistar and Claro share the win for the Games Experience award with statistically tied scores of 70.6-70.8 points on a 100-point scale. Antel takes third place, with a score of 68.9 points. The award was previously won by Movistar outright.
Our users on all of Uruguay’s national operators have a Fair (65-75) experience on their mobile devices while playing multiplayer games over cellular connections.
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
Movistar and Claro share the Voice App Experience award, with statistically tied scores of 79.9-80.2 points on a 100-point scale. Antel is behind with a score of 77.9 points. The award was previously won by Movistar outright.
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
Antel is the outright winner for the Download Speed Experience award for the second time in a row in Uruguay. Our users on Antel’s network also continue to see improvements in Download Speed Experience – their average download speeds have improved by 3.3Mbps (13.6%), since the last report, to reach 27.7Mbps. Antel therefore leads the runner-up Movistar by 7.9Mbps, up from the 4.1Mbps seen in the previous report.
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
Antel continues its leadership for overall upload speeds in Uruguay, winning the top spot for Upload Speed Experience with a score of 9.5Mbps in this report. Antel secures the award with a lead of 0.7Mbps over the runner-up Movistar. This is now the eight consecutive report where Antel wins this award outright, having remained unbeaten since the first Opensignal’s mobile network experience report on Uruguay in October 2019.
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).
Coverage
Antel
Claro
Movistar
National Analysis
Claro and Movistar are the joint winners of the Availability award. Both operators claim the award with statistically tied scores of 99-99.2% – representing the proportion of time our users on the operators’ networks had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection. Antel comes third, with a score of 98.4% — but its score has risen by 0.4 percentage points, compared to the previous report, shrinking the gap between it and the leaders. Availability metric uses a time-based approach to track signal availability among users – being different to geographical-based methodology of our reach metrics.
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
Antel wins 4G Coverage Experience outright, with a score of 9.4 points on a 10-point scale. This means our users on Antel’s network connected to 4G services in more than nine out of 10 locations visited by our users in Uruguay. Antel leads by 0.5 points over the runner-up Movistar. There have not been any statistically significant changes in Antel’s and Movistar’s scores compared to the previous report, whereas Claro’s improved by 0.2 points.
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.
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