Oman
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.
Oman
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 overall experience is with Vodafone
As was the case in the last report, our Vodafone users observe the fastest average overall speeds (measured across all generations of mobile technology). This means that Vodafone retains the Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards. It now wins the former with a score of 50.3Mbps, 9.2Mbps (22.4%) faster than runner-up Omantel’s score of 41.1Mbps. All three operators’ Download Speed Experience scores have increased significantly since last time around, with our Omantel users seeing the largest improvement — an increase of 6.1Mbps (17.5%), followed by those on Vodafone with a rise of 3.4Mbps (7.3%) and Ooredoo with 2Mbps (5.8%).
Omantel wins both new coverage experience awards
Omantel is the first Omani operator to win Opensignal’s new Coverage Experience and 5G Coverage Experience awards. It wins Coverage Experience with a score of 8.4 on a 10-point scale and a lead of 0.4 points over second-placed Ooredoo. Omantel places first for 5G Coverage Experience with four points, followed by Ooredoo with 2.9 points, while Vodafone places last with 1.2 points. Both these metrics represent the experience users receive as they travel around areas where they would reasonably expect to find coverage.
Vodafone users have the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games — both overall and on 5G
Vodafone is the outright winner of both the overall Games Experience and 5G Games Experience awards. It wins Games Experience with a score of 68.8 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of five points over second-placed Ooredoo, while Omantel places last with 56.5 points. Vodafone leads by a slightly smaller margin in terms of 5G Games Experience, beating the runner-up, Ooredoo, by 3.8 points — given their respective scores of 77.8 and 74 points.
The fastest average 5G download speeds are with Omantel
Omantel wins the 5G Download Speed award outright for the second report in a row. This time around, our Omantel users observe average 5G download speeds of 233.3Mbps, 55.5Mbps (31.2%) faster than Ooredoo’s 177.8Mbps and more than double Vodafone’s 115.3Mbps.
Vodafone users have the most consistent experience in Oman
Vodafone wins the Consistent Quality award with a score of 73.2%, while Omantel and Ooredoo are in second and last place, respectively, with scores of 68.7% and 64.1%. 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 demanding typical tasks on their devices.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
As in the previous report, Vodafone is the most awarded operator. It now wins 11 awards out of 14 — either outright or jointly. The operator is the outright winner of both overall speed awards (Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience), both games experience awards (Games Experience and 5G Games Experience), Video Experience, 5G Upload Speed and Consistent Quality. The latter replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards, which featured in previous reports.
The operator with the next largest haul of awards is Omantel – which snaps up both new coverage awards — Coverage Experience and 5G Coverage Experience. It also remains the outright winner of the 5G Download Speed award and is a joint winner in two categories — 5G Video Experience alongside Vodafone and it is part of the three-way statistical tie for 5G Availability. Ooredoo does not win any award outright this time around, but it is a joint winner across three categories including the new Live Video Experience award, which it shares with Vodafone.
The Omani Telecommunications Regulations Authority (TRA) and the country’s operators are preparing for the switch-off of 3G networks, which will begin in the third quarter of 2024, following a limited trial. The shutdown will begin in the least populated areas of the Sultanate. Shutting down 3G networks will free up spectrum for use by 4G and 5G — improving capacity, reducing congestion and improving speeds, while also reducing operators’ operating costs and the complexity of their network operations.
In this report, we've analyzed data gathered in the 90-day period beginning on September 1, 2023, and ending on November 29, 2023, to see how Oman’s two established national operators — Omantel and Ooredoo — and recent entrant Vodafone measure up. 5G measurements contribute to the overall scores in all categories.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Our Vodafone users continue to observe the best overall Video Experience in Oman. As a result, Vodafone is the outright winner of the Video Experience award for the second time in a row. It wins this time with a score of 67.6 points on a 100-point scale, around 2.5 points ahead of Omantel and Ooredoo, given their statistically tied scores of 65-65.3 points. All three operators place in the Good (58-68) category. This means that 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
Ooredoo and Vodafone share Opensignal’s new Live Video Experience award with statistically tied scores of 59.1-61.4 points on a 100-point scale. Omantel is in last place, as its upper confidence interval does not overlap with Vodafone’s.
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
Our Vodafone users once again have the best overall experience in Oman when playing multiplayer mobile games over cellular connections. Vodafone wins the Game Experience award outright for the second report in a row. It does so this time around with a score of 68.8 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of five points over second-placed Ooredoo, while Omantel places last with 56.5 points. Vodafone’s score has risen by 4.8 points, Ooredoo’s by 2.8 points — while Omantel’s has dropped by 1.8 points.
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
Vodafone is still the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience. It wins this time around with a score of 50.3Mbps, 9.2Mbps (22.4%) faster than runner-up Omantel’s score of 41.1Mbps. Ooredoo is in last place with 36Mbps. All three operators’ scores have increased significantly since last time around, with our Omantel users seeing the largest improvement — an increase of 6.1Mbps (17.5%), followed by those on Vodafone with a rise of 3.4Mbps (7.3%) and Ooredoo with 2Mbps (5.8%).
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
Vodafone wins the Upload Speed Experience for the third time in a row and remains undefeated for this measure of the mobile experience since Opensignal first included Vodafone in its reports back in July 2022. This time around, Vodafone wins with a score of 12.9Mbps and a lead of 3.5Mbps over second-placed Ooredoo’s 9.4Mbps. Vodafone’s lead is down from the 4.2Mbps it commanded in the previous report as Ooredoo’s score has risen by 0.7Mbps (8.5%) while Vodafone’s is statistically unchanged. Omantel’s score has increased by 0.8Mbps (9.6%).
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
Omantel is no longer the outright winner of the 5G Video Experience award — it now shares the award with Vodafone, given their statistically tied scores of 73-73.4 points on a 100-point scale. Ooredoo is in last place with 71.7 points as its upper confidence interval does not overlap with Omantel’s lower confidence interval. All three operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category, which means our Omani users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling when connected to 5G.
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
Vodafone is the new outright winner of the 5G Games Experience award. It wins with a score of 77.8 points on a 100-point scale, while Ooredoo and Omantel are in second and third place, respectively, with scores of 74 and 61.1 points. Vodafone is the only Omani operator on which our users have a Good (75-85) experience while playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G networks, as Ooredoo and Omantel earn Fair (65-75) and Poor (40-65) ratings, respectively. This means that most Vodafone users deemed the experience acceptable. The gameplay experience is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users do not experience a delay between their actions and 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
Our Omantel users continue to observe the fastest average 5G download speeds in Oman and so Omantel wins the 5G Download Speed award outright for the second report in a row. Omantel scores 233.3Mbps, 55.5Mbps (31.2%) faster than Ooredoo’s 177.8Mbps and more than double Vodafone’s 115.3Mbps.
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
Vodafone is the new outright winner of the 5G Upload Speed award — it wins with a score of 23.4Mbps — 2.9Mbps (14.2%) faster than second–placed Ooredoo’s 20.5Mbps. Omantel is in last place with 17.9Mbps.
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
National Analysis
Omantel wins the new Coverage Experience award with a score of 8.4 on a 10-point scale and a lead of 0.4 points over second-placed Ooredoo. Unsurprisingly, given its status as a relatively recent entrant into the Omani mobile market, Vodafone trails its more established rivals with a score of 5.1 points.
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.
National Analysis
Omantel is the first Omani operator to win Opensignal’s new 5G Coverage Experience award. It does so with a score of four points, followed by Ooredoo with 2.9 points, while Vodafone places last with 1.2 points.
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.
National Analysis
Ooredoo and Vodafone remain locked in a statistical tie for the Availability award — they share it this time around with scores of 98.5-98.7%, while Omantel is in last place with 98.1%.
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.
National Analysis
All three Omani operators share the 5G Availability award with statistically tied scores of 10.1-12.2%. 5G Availability is the proportion of time that our 5G users spend with an active 5G connection. It is therefore an important measure of the mobile experience as users can only benefit from the improved experience they see with 5G when they are connected to it.
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.
Consistency
National Analysis
Vodafone is the outright winner of the Consistent Quality award. It wins with a score of 73.2%, while Omantel and Ooredoo are in second and last place, respectively, with scores of 68.7% and 64.1%. Consistent Quality replaces the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards, which featured in previous reports.
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