United Arab Emirates
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.
United Arab Emirates
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 most consistent experience is with Etisalat
Our Emirati users have the most consistent experience on Etisalat’s network — the operator wins the Consistent Quality award with a score of 69.2%. Du is 9.2 percentage points below its rival, scoring 60%. The Consistent Quality award replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards that featured in previous reports. It is a measure of 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 demanding tasks on their devices.
Etisalat is top for Live Video Experience
Etisalat wins both the overall and 5G awards for Live Video Experience, a new award that quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. Etisalat wins overall Live Video Experience with a score of 56.5 points on a 100-point scale, and a lead of 5.5 points over second-placed du. Etisalat also takes home 5G Live Video Experience, its score of 63.3 points enough to separate it from the competition — although, both Etisalat and du place in the Excellent (58 or above) category for 5G Live Video Experience.
Du beats Etisalat for mobile gaming experience
Du wins the overall Games Experience award outright — an award that was won by Etisalat in the previous report. Du wins Games Experience with a score of 65.8 points on a 100-point scale, just ahead of Etisalat’s 63 points. Etisalat drops off the winners’ podium due to its score decreasing by 2.7 points between reports, while du’s increased by 2.5 points. Du also keeps hold of its win for 5G Games Experience, meaning that our Emirati users have the best mobile gaming experience on du’s network.
Etisalat wins both Coverage Experience awards uncontested
Etisalat wins the overall Coverage Experience award with an impressive score of nine points on a 10-point scale — 1.7 points ahead of second-placed du. Etisalat also comes first for 5G Coverage Experience, its 4.1 points are enough to place it above du, which scores 3.6 points. Opensignal new Coverage Experience metrics measure the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work, and travel.
Du hangs on to its wins for overall and 5G Availability
For the second time in a row, du wins both the overall Availability and 5G Availability awards outright, making it their fifth consecutive win for the latter. In Availability, Du leads with a near-perfect score of 99.2%, slightly ahead of Etisalat's 98.8%. Du wins 5G Availability — the proportion of time our users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection — by a larger margin, its score of 13.9% 4.1 percentage points above rival Etisalat.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Etisalat remains top of the leaderboard when it comes to award tallies, winning the lion’s share of awards. The operator takes home 11 uncontested victories, including all four speed awards, the new Consistent Quality and Coverage Experience awards and both new Live Video Experience awards. Du doesn’t go home empty handed though, winning four awards outright — holding on to its wins for overall/5G Availability and now winning both Games Experience awards.
UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has announced the completion of the second phase of its trial into ‘5G-Advanced’ technology, using 400MHz of bandwidth in the 6GHz frequency band. The TDRA worked in cooperation with Etisalat and du, achieving speeds of 10Gbps. The regulator claims that these speeds set a global precedent, with the UAE being the first country to achieve these results.
Our results in this report are based on measurements collected across all major mobile operators in the United Arab Emirates — du and Etisalat — over the period of 90 days between July 1, 2023 and September 28, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Etisalat wins the Video Experience award outright. Etisalat wins with a score of 62 points on a 100-point scale while du scores 57 points in second.
Etisalat places in the Good (58-68) category for Video Experience, while du places in Fair (48-58). A Good rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 720p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
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
Etisalat wins the overall Live Video Experience outright, a new award that quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. Etisalat wins with a score of 56.5 points on a 100-point scale, and a lead of 5.5 points of second-placed du.
Etisalat score places it in the Very Good (53-58) category, while du places one category lower — Good (43-53). A Very Good rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 720p or 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
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
Du now wins the Games Experience award — a change from the previous report when Etisalat won. Du wins with a score of 65.8 points on a 100-point scale while Etisalat scores 63 points in second.
Du places in the Fair (65-75) category for Games Experience, while Etisalat places in Poor (40-65). A Fair rating for Games Experience means that users find the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases, the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users reporting that they feel like they have control over the game. The majority of players report that they notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
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
Etisalat retains its outright win for Download Speed Experience, this time with a score of 45.1Mbps — 9.7Mbps (27.4%) ahead of du. Etisalat’s score has decreased by 1.3Mbps between reports, while du’s score has increased by one Mbps, shrinking the gap between the operators.
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
Etisalat retains its outright win for Upload Speed Experience, this time with a score of 10.6Mbps — 0.7Mbps (7.1%) ahead of du. Etisalat’s score has decreased by 0.4Mbps between reports, while du’s score has increased by 0.9Mbps, shrinking the gap between the two operators.
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
Etisalat remains the outright winner of the 5G Video Experience award — beating rival du by 3.9 points. Etisalat’s score of 69.3 points on a 100-point scale places it in the Very Good (68-78) category — du places in Good (58-68) with a score of 65.4 points.
A Very Good rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
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
Etisalat wins the 5G Live Video Experience award outright, a new award that quantifies the quality of real-time video streamed to mobile devices by measuring video streams over an operator's network. Etisalat takes home the 5G Live Video Experience award with a score of 63.3 — five points head of du.
Both operators place in the highest category for 5G Live Video Experience — Excellent (58 or above). An Excellent rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at least at 1080p with low loading times, little stalling and a satisfactory live offset.
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
Du takes home the uncontested gold for 5G Games Experience for a second consecutive time. The operator wins with a score of 74.4 points on a 100-point scale — 4.7 points ahead of Etisalat.
Both operators place in the Fair (65-75) category for 5G Games Experience. A Fair rating for Games Experience means that users find the experience to be ‘average’. In most cases the game is responsive to the actions of the player with most users reporting that they feel like they have control over the game. The majority of players report that they notice a delay between their actions and the outcomes in the game.
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
Etisalat retains its outright win for 5G Download Speed, this time with a score of 294.8Mbps — 40.6Mbps (16%) ahead of du. Both Etisalat’s and du’s scores have decreased between reports — by 27.8Mbps for du and 37.3Mbps for Etisalat.
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
Etisalat remains the outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award, this time with a score of 27.9Mbps — 2.7Mbps (10.7%) ahead of du. Etisalat’s lead over du has shrunk since the previous report due to Etisalat’s score decreasing by 3.3Mbps, while du’s score is statistically unchanged.
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
du
Etisalat
National Analysis
Etisalat is the first operator in the UAE to win the new Coverage Experience award, scoring nine points on a 10-point scale — du has some catching up to do, finishing 1.7 points below Etisalat. Coverage Experience measures the geographic coverage of populated areas from our users on 2G, 3G, 4G, & 5G connections.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses 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.
National Analysis
Etisalat wins the new 5G Coverage Experience award with a score of 4.1 points on a 10-point scale. Rival du is 0.5 points below the lead with a score of 3.6 points. 5G Coverage Experience measures the geographic coverage of populated areas from 5G users on 5G connections.
Definitions
The Opensignal Coverage Experience metric measures the extent of mobile networks in the places people live, work and travel. The metric represents the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Traditional coverage metrics typically estimate either a percentage of land area covered, or a percentage of population covered; often neither will be an accurate measurement of the true user expectation and experience. In many markets there are areas where neither population density nor geographic area reflect the importance of coverage to users. For example, in a large mountain range most users will not expect coverage in the wilderness, but poor coverage in the relatively small area of a ski resort is critical for the enjoyment of a holiday. Estimates based purely on population give undue significance to coverage in the most densely populated areas.
Coverage Experience measures geographic coverage of populated areas and therefore more accurately reflects the coverage expectations and experience of typical users. It can give a result that is somewhat different to traditional estimates based on either geographic or population measures. The metric uses a scale from 0 to 10.
5G Coverage Experience shows the proportion of places 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
Du keeps a tight grip on the Availability award. The operator wins with a near-perfect score of 99.2% — only 0.4 percentage points higher than Etisalat. This means that our users on du's network spend over 99% 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
Du once again wins the 5G Availability award — an award it has won outright since its introduction in Emirati mobile network experience reports. Du wins with a score of 13.9%, 4.1 percentage points ahead of second-placed Etisalat. Both operators have seen a decrease in score since the previous report, with du’s score dropping by 2.7 percentage points and Etisalat’s by 3.9 percentage points.
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
Etisalat steps onto the winners’ podium for the Consistent Quality award, which replaces Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality. Etisalat’s score of 69.2% is well above runner-up du’s score of 60%. 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