Slovakia
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.
Slovakia
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
Slovak Telekom finishes first for Consistent Quality
Slovak Telekom is the first Slovakian operator to win the newly introduced Consistent Quality award — which replaces Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality. Slovak Telekom wins the award with a score of 85.1%, 1.2 percentage points above second-placed Orange’s score of 83.9%. O2 is only slightly behind Orange with its score of 81.8%, while 4ka comes a distant fourth with 57.2%. Consistent Quality is a measure of how sufficient the network is in supporting common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices.
Slovak Telekom remains unbeatable when it comes to upload speed
Slovak Telekom retains its outright wins for Upload Speed Experience and 5G Upload Speed, keeping it at the top for average upload speeds in Slovakia. The operator wins Upload Speed Experience with a score of 13.5Mbps and 5G Upload Speed with a score of 35.4Mbps. O2 and Orange statistically tie for second place in both awards.
Slovakian mobile users have an excellent 5G gaming experience on O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom all place in the Excellent (85 or above) category for 5G Games Experience. O2 and Slovak Telekom continue to share the award with statistically tied scores of 89.8-91.3 points on a 100-point scale, while Orange is just behind in third place. An Excellent rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with fast loading times and no stalling when connected to 5G.
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom are top for live video streaming
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom share both the overall Live Video Experience award and the 5G Live Video Experience award. The trio win with statistically tied scores of 59.7-62.2 points and 68.4-69.9 points for overall and 5G Live Video, respectively. This means that both the overall and 5G experience rate as Excellent (58 or above) — allowing users to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
O2 and Orange join Slovak Telekom on the winners’ podium for Games Experience and Voice App Experience
Slovak Telekom now shares both the overall Games Experience award and the overall Voice App Experience award with O2 and Orange — Slovak Telekom previously won both awards solely. The three operators tie for first place with statistically level scores of 78-80.6 points and 80.2-80.7 points for Games Experience and Voice App Experience, respectively. 4ka lags behind in fourth for both awards — especially for Games Experience, where it is 10.6 points behind first place.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
There has been quite a lot of movement in the awards table since the previous report on the mobile network experience in Slovakia. Slovak Telekom remains the operator with the largest haul — 12 total first place finishes — but now shares many of the victories with O2 and Orange. All of the overall experiential awards are now three-way ties between Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange, along with the newly introduced 5G Live Video Experience award. Slovak Telekom also takes home an outright win for the Consistent Quality award, which replaces Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality.
Orange and O2 once again have the same number of awards — nine — although Orange manages to keep its two outright wins (5G Download Speed and Availability), while O2 stays at just one outright win (5G Video Experience). 4ka has not yet managed to secure its first award in Opensignal reports.
4ka has signed a new roaming agreement with Orange Slovakia, adding roaming on Orange’s 4G network to their existing 2G and 3G roaming agreements. 4ka’s customers will now be able to use Orange’s network when out of range of 4ka’s 2G/3G/4G infrastructure. O2 and Slovak Telekom are also teaming up, announcing that they plan to share mobile networks, looking to reduce costs and provide better service coverage. O2 and Slovak Telekom expect the network sharing program to be rolled out over the next two to three years, although not in the country’s main cities of Bratislava and Kosice.
In this report, we analyzed our users' experience in Slovakia on each of the four national operators, 4ka, O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom, over a 90 day period between February 1, 2023 and July 29, 2023, to see how they fared. Despite 4ka not being included in 5G award categories, users' 5G measurements still contribute to the overall experience awards in this report.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Slovak Telekom joins O2 and Orange on the winners’ podium for the overall Video Experience award. Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange share the award with statistically tied scores of 68.1-69.6 points on a 100-point scale — around 7.7 points ahead of 4ka, which finishes in last place.
Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange rate as Very Good (68-78) for Video Experience. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. 4ka places one category lower — Good (58-68).
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
Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange are the first winners of the overall Live Video Experience award in Slovakian mobile network experience reports. They win the award with statistically tied scores of 59.7-62.2 points on a 100-point scale. 4ka is not far behind, scoring 56.8 points.
Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange place in the Excellent (58 or above) category for Live Video Experience. An Excellent rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream live video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset. 4ka places one category lower — Very Good (53-58).
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
National Analysis
O2 and Orange now share the Games Experience award with Slovak Telekom — Slovak Telekom won the award outright in the previous report. The three operators take home the award with statistically tied scores of 78-80.6 points on a 100-point scale, around 10.6 points ahead of fourth-placed 4ka.
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom all place in the Good (75-85) category for Games Experience while 4ka places in Fair (65-75).
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
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom share the Voice App Experience award, an award that was won outright by Slovak Telekom in the last report. The trio win with tied scores of 80.2-80.7 points — around 4.4 points ahead of 4ka, which scores 76.1 points.
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom place in the Good (80-87) category for Voice App Experience. A Good rating means that many users are satisfied. Minor quality impairments are experienced by some users. Sometimes the background is not quite clear, it could be either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion are very rarely present. 4ka places one category lower — Acceptable (74-80).
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
Orange and Slovak Telekom continue to share the Download Speed Experience award — winning with statistically level scores of 50.6-52Mbps. Third-placed O2 has quite a bit of catching up to do, scoring around 20.1Mbps less than Orange and Slovak Telekom — 4ka is even further behind, scoring almost three times slower than first place at 18.8Mbps.
Since the previous report only O2 has seen an increase in score — 3.1Mbps (10.9%) — the rest of the operators’ scores have remained statistically unchanged.
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
Slovak Telekom retains its outright win for Upload Speed Experience, winning with a score of 13.5Mbps — around 2.9Mbps (27.7%) faster than O2’s and Orange’s statistically tied scores of 10.4-10.8Mbps. 4ka brings up the rear with a score of 8.9Mbps.
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
There is no change to the rankings for 5G Video Experience this time around, as O2 wins the award outright for the second time in a row with a score of 78 points on a 100-point scale. Orange and Slovak Telekom are not far behind, tied for second place.
O2 achieves an Excellent (78 or above) rating for 5G Video Experience, while Orange and Slovak Telekom place in Very Good (68-78) rating. An Excellent rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with fast loading times and no stalling when connected to 5G.
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
O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom have statistically tied scores for 5G Live Video Experience, meaning that the three Slovakian national operators step onto the winners’ podium. The three operators win the award with scores of 68.4-69.9 points on a 100-point scale.
All three operators place well into the Excellent (58 or above) category for 5G Live Video Experience. An Excellent rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream live video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset when connected to 5G.
Definitions
Opensignal’s Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. The metric extends the existing International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach used for Opensignal's on-demand Video Experience metric, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including live playback offset, picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived live video experience as reported by real people. To calculate live video experience, we are directly measuring live video streams from end-user devices and using this extension of ITU's approach to quantify the overall live video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.
5G Live Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world live video streams when they were connected to 5G.
National Analysis
O2 and Slovak Telekom remain joint winners of the 5G Games Experience award. The pair win the award with statistically level scores of 89.8-91.3 points on a 100-point scale. Orange is in last place with a score of 86.8 points, around 3.7 points below first place.
All three operators place in the highest category for 5G Games Experience, Excellent (85 or above). An Excellent rating means that the vast majority of users deem this 5G network experience acceptable. Nearly all respondents 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.
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
Once again, 5G Voice App Experience is shared by O2, Orange and Slovak Telekom, in a three-way tie. The operators have statistically tied scores of 84-84.7 points on a 100-point scale.
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
Orange wins the 5G Download Speed award for the second consecutive time. The operator takes home the award with a score of 149.8Mbps, 11.1Mbps ahead of second-placed Slovak Telekom. O2 places third with its score of 123.3Mbps. O2 is the only operator to have seen a significant change in score between reports, with its score increasing by 25.2Mbps (25.7%).
O2 is also the operator that has the largest uplift in average download speed when connected to 5G, compared to overall. O2’s boost is 3.9 times, Orange’s boost is 3 times and our Slovak Telekom users see the smallest boost of 2.7 times.
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
Slovak Telekom retains its outright win for 5G Upload Speed, scoring 35.4Mbps. Orange and O2 tie for second place with statistically similar scores of 27.4-27.7Mbps.
All three operators see similar uplifts to average upload speed provided by 5G. Orange users see their average upload speeds boosted by 2.7 times, Slovak Telekom by 2.6 times and O2 by 2.5 times.
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
4ka
O2
Orange
Slovak Telekom
National Analysis
Orange takes home the Availability awards with its score of 97.5% — around 2.1 percentage points ahead of O2 and Slovak Telekom, which tie for second place with scores of 95.1-95.8%. 4ka brings up the rear with a score of 86.1% — over 10 percentage points below Orange. This means that users on Orange’s network proportionally spend 97.5% of their time with a 3G or better connection.
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
O2 and Slovak Telekom continue to share the 5G Availability award, the pair coming joint first with tied scores of 11.4-12.8%. Orange is in third place, and around 3.5 percentage points below the lead with a score of 8.6%.
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.
Consistency
National Analysis
Slovak Telekom is the first Slovakian operator to win the newly introduced Consistent Quality award — which replaces Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality. Slovak Telekom wins the award with a score of 85.1%, 1.2 percentage points above second-placed Orange’s score of 83.9%. O2 is only slightly behind Orange with its score of 81.8%, while 4ka comes a distant fourth with 57.2%. Consistent Quality is a measure of how sufficient the network is in supporting common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical demanding tasks on their devices.
Definitions
Consistent Quality measures if the network is sufficient to support common mobile application requirements at a level that is ‘good enough’ for users to maintain (or complete) various typical tasks on their devices.
We combine different experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet discard, and time to first byte to calculate Consistent Quality. These components are evaluated against thresholds recommended by various more demanding common applications used for a range of common tasks.
To calculate the metric value, the proportion of tests that pass the requirements of Consistent Quality is multiplied by the test success ratio, which is the proportion of completed tests to all tests conducted. Tests that pass indicate that activities such as video calling, uploading an image to social media, or using smart home applications will be possible without noticeable lag or slowdown.
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