Kuwait
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.
Kuwait
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 now on Ooredoo’s network
In the previous report, stc won the Consistent Quality award, but with a score of 66.6% Ooredoo overtakes stc to take first place. Ooredoo’s and Zain’s scores have increased between reports, while stc’s score has fallen. 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 demanding tasks on their devices.
Zain catches Ooredoo to now jointly share 5G Upload Speed
Zain steps onto the winners’ podium for 5G Upload Speed, joining the previous winner, Ooredoo. The pair share the gold with statistically level scores of 30.6-32Mbps, almost two-thirds faster than third-placed stc. Although Ooredoo's score has improved since the last report, Zain has experienced a more significant increase, allowing it to draw level.
Zain wins Coverage Experience outright and shares 5G Coverage Experience with stc
Zain takes home the new Coverage Experience award and jointly wins 5G Coverage Experience with stc. For overall coverage, Zain scores 7.8 points on a 10-point scale, ahead of its competitors, Ooredoo and stc, which come in second and third, respectively. For 5G Coverage Experience, Zain and stc statistically tie for first place. Opensignal’s Coverage Experience metrics measure the extent of overall and 5G coverage in the places our users live, work, and travel.
Overall average download speeds have improved across the board
Our users on all three Kuwaiti national operators are enjoying boosted Download Speed Experience scores. The increases in overall average download speeds range from 6.8Mbps for Ooredoo, to 11.9Mbps for stc — bringing last-placed stc closer to the current leader, Ooredoo.
Stc claims 5G Availability for itself
Stc breaks free of the statistical tie that it was in for 5G Availability in the prior report, winning the award outright with a score of 42.4% — Ooredoo slips down to second place, now statistically tying with Zain. This means that our 5G users on stc’s network spend over 40% of their time with an active 5G connection.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
When it comes to the greatest number of wins, Ooredoo manages to come out on top, with ten total award wins (joint and outright) to Zain’s nine. Ooredoo notably snatches Consistent Quality from stc and keeps hold of its outright wins for both Games Experience awards — overall and 5G — and both overall speed metrics.
Zain’s impressive spread of awards includes its retained outright victories for 5G Video Experience and 5G Download Speed. It also picks up both new coverage experience awards, winning overall Coverage Experience outright and sharing 5G Coverage Experience with stc. Stc racks up a modest six wins, and is now the outright winner of 5G Availability.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Kuwait — Zain, Ooredoo and stc — over a period of 90 days starting on October 01, 2023 and ending on December 29, 2023, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
For the third consecutive time, all three operators share the Video Experience award — on this occasion with statistically tied scores of 64.1-64.7 points on a 100-point scale.
Our Kuwaiti users have a Good (58-68) Video Experience, no matter their choice of national operator. This 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
All of the operators once again share the Live Video Experience award, this time with statistically similar scores of 57.1-57.6 points on a 100-point scale.
All three operators place in the Very Good (53-58) category, meaning 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.
Operators’ Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
Unlike Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news where the event is happening at that moment in time.
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
Ooredoo holds on to its outright win for Games Experience, winning this time with a score of 72 points on a 100-point scale, 2.6 points above second-placed Zain. Stc comes third with a score of 64.8 points.
Both Zain’s and Ooredoo’s scores have increased between reports — Zain's by 4.6 points and Ooredoo's by 2.5 points. Stc's score hasn't changed a significant amount since the previous report.
Zain and Ooredoo place in the Fair (65-75) category, while stc places one category lower, in Poor (40-65). A Fair rating 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 feeling like they have control over the game. The majority of players 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
Ooredoo once again takes home Download Speed Experience, its score of 57.4Mbps making it 2.4Mbps (4.3%) faster than second-placed Zain’s 55Mbps. Stc brings up the rear with a score of 48.7Mbps.
Overall average download scores have increased across the board, with stc's score increasing by 11.9Mbps (32.2%), Zain's by 6.9Mbps (14.3%) and Ooredoo's by 6.8Mbps (13.5%).
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
Ooredoo wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright with a score of 15.7Mbps — Ooredoo is the only Kuwaiti operator to win this award since Opensignal began reporting on the mobile network experience in the country. Zain and stc place second and third with their respective scores of 14.7Mbps and 11.4Mbps.
Zain's score has increased by 1.1Mbps (8.3%) since the previous report and Ooredoo's score has increased by 0.8Mbps (5.5%).
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
Zain wins the 5G Video Experience award outright for the second time in a row. Zain scores 75.8 points on a 100-point scale and leads Ooredoo by 0.9 points. Stc isn’t far behind with its score of 73.7 points.
Scores on all three operators have fallen, with Zain's score falling the most at 1.1 points. Stc's and Ooredoo’s scores have decreased by one point and 0.7 points, respectively.
Despite this drop in scores, all operators still place in the Very Good (68-78) category for 5G Video Experience. On all three networks 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
The competition for 5G Live Video Experience is again too close to call, with all three Kuwaiti national operators tying for first place. Ooredoo, stc and Zain share the award with statistically similar scores of 70.9-72.4 points on a 100-point scale.
All operators place in the Excellent (58 or above) category. 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.
Operators’ 5G Live Video Experience scores are determined using a range of measures that impact users’ perceived live streaming viewing experience, including picture quality, video loading time, and stall rate, but also live playback offset — the time difference between real-time and the current playback position a viewer sees.
Unlike 5G Video Experience, which represents on-demand video streams, 5G Live Video Experience quantifies live video streaming used for current events. For example when users watch live sports, game streams, music concerts, or news where the event is happening at that moment in time.
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
Ooredoo keeps hold of the 5G Games Experience award. Ooredoo’s score of 81 points on a 100-point scale is 2.1 points above Zain, which places in second with its score of 78.9 points. Stc is further behind, with a score of 69.3 points.
Zain and Ooredoo place in the Good (75-85) category, while stc places one category lower, in Fair (65-75). A Good (75-85) rating means that most users deem 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 users have the fastest 5G average download speeds on Zain’s network for the second report in a row. Zain wins the 5G Download Speed award with a score of 332.3Mbps, beating Ooredoo’s 293.6Mbps and stc’s 196.2Mbps.
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
Zain steps onto the winners’ podium for 5G Upload Speed, joining the previous winner, Ooredoo. The pair share the award with statistically level scores of 30.6-32Mbps, almost two-thirds faster than third-placed stc’s score of 19.4Mbps.
Zain users have experienced a 4.5Mbps (17.3%) increase in their score, whereas the score for Ooredoo users has risen by a smaller margin — 1.9Mbps (6.5%).
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
Zain is the first Kuwaiti operator to claim the Coverage Experience award. Zain’ score of 7.8 points on a 10-point scale puts it 1.3 points ahead of Ooredoo’s 6.4 points, and 1.8 points ahead of stc.
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
Zain and stc win the new 5G Coverage Experience award jointly with statistically tied scores of 2.86-2.93 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of around 0.3 points over Ooredoo, which places in third with its score of 2.57 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 stc now share the Availability award with Zain — Zain won the award outright in the last report. The three have statistically level scores of 97.8-98.4%.
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
Stc is no longer tied with Ooredoo for 5G Availability, and therefore wins the award all to itself. Stc does so with a score of 42.4% and a lead of around 7.1 percentage points over Zain and Ooredoo, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 33.2-37.4%.
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
Ooredoo overtakes stc to win the Consistent Quality award outright. It does so with a score of 66.6% and a lead of 2.4 percentage points over Zain, which places in second with its score of 64.1%. Stc is now in last place, scoring 54.9%.
Ooredoo takes the lead due to its score increasing by 9.1 percentage points, while stc's score has fallen by 8.6 percentage points. Zain's score also increased — by 9.3 percentage points.
This metric 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 demanding tasks on their devices. It assesses a number of experience indicators such as download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, and time to first byte.
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