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
The fastest overall experience is with Slovak Telekom
Slovak Telekom wins the overall Download Speed Experience award with a score of 56.2Mbps — breaking free of the previous report’s statistical tie with Orange to win the award outright. Our Slovakian users have the fastest overall average speeds on Slovak Telekom’s network, as the operator also retains its outright win for Upload Speed Experience. Slovak Telekom also wins the 5G Upload Speed award outright, but 5G Download Speed goes to Orange for a third consecutive time.
Slovak Telekom edges out the competition for Games Experience
In the September 2023 report, the Games Experience award was shared by Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange in a three-way tie. This time, Slovak Telekom wins the award outright with a score of 83.6 points on a 100-point scale. Slovak Telekom’s score is just shy of the Excellent (85 or above) rating for Games Experience.
The most consistent experience is now with Orange
Orange overtakes the previous Consistent Quality winner, Slovak Telekom, to win the award outright. It does so with a score of 85.6%, a boost of two percentage points since the last report. 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.
4ka joins O2 on the winners’ podium for 5G Video Experience
4ka takes home its first award win in Opensignal reports, sharing the 5G Video Experience award with O2. The 5G Video Experience is Very Good (68-78) on all four Slovakian major operators, meaning that our users are, on average, able to stream on-demand video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
Slovak Telekom and Orange both top the leaderboard this time around, taking home seven first-place finishes each, either joint or outright. Slovak Telekom picks up outright wins for Games Experience and Download Speed Experience, while Orange moves into first for Consistent Quality and keeps a tight grip on its other two outright wins (5G Download Speed and Availability). O2’s award haul has shrunk since the previous report, but it still takes home four joint wins in 5G metrics. 4ka shares 5G Video Experience with O2, 4ka’s first award win in Opensignal reports.
Orange has completed its shutdown of its 3G network in Slovakia — Orange is the second Slovakian operator to do so, as Slovak Telekom completed its switch-off in late 2023. O2 started the shutdown of its 3G network in early 2024. Disconnection will be carried out in phases, lasting for two years. Due to a roaming agreement, 4ka subscribers could previously access Orange’s 3G network — now 4ka’s subscribers will be able to access Orange’s 4G network where 4ka has not deployed its own 4G infrastructure.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the four main mobile network operators in Slovakia — Orange, Slovak Telekom, 4ka and O2 — over a period of 90 days starting on November 01, 2023 and ending on January 29, 2024, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
Orange and Slovak Telekom win the Video Experience award jointly with statistically tied scores of 69-70 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around two points over O2 — 4ka finishes in fourth.
Orange and Slovak Telekom place in the Very Good (68-78) category, while 4ka and O2 place one category lower, in Good (58-68). A Very Good (68-78) rating means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling. A Good (58-68) 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
Orange and Slovak Telekom win the Live Video Experience award jointly with statistically tied scores of 64.8-65.9 points on a 100-point scale. Slightly ahead of third-placed O2 and fourth-placed 4ka.
Orange, Slovak Telekom and O2 place in the Excellent (58 or above) category, while 4ka places one category lower, in Very Good (53-58).
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
In the previous report, the Games Experience award was shared by Slovak Telekom, O2 and Orange in a three-way tie. This time around, Slovak Telekom wins the award outright with a score of 83.6 points on a 100-point scale. Orange and O2 statistically tie for second place, while 4ka is in last place.
Orange, Slovak Telekom and O2 place in the Good (75-85) category, while 4ka places one category lower, 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
Slovak Telekom pulls ahead for Download Speed Experience, winning the award outright with a score of 56.2Mbps and a small lead over second-placed Orange. O2 and 4ka come third and fourth, respectively. Slovak Telekom wins outright due to its score increasing by 4Mbps since the previous report, while Orange's score increased by a lesser amount.
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 wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright for the third consecutive time. The operator has a sizable lead of around 2Mbps over Orange and O2, which statistically tie for second place — 4ka is in last place.
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
4ka steps onto the winners’ podium for the first time in an Opensignal report. 4ka jointly wins the 5G Video Experience award with O2, the pair sharing the award with statistically level scores of 75.1-76.3 points on a 100-point scale. Orange and Slovak Telekom are not far behind the lead.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category for 5G Video Experience, meaning 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
O2 and Orange share the 5G Live Video Experience, a change from the previous report when Slovak Telekom also tied with the pair for first place. O2 and Orange win with statistically tied scores of 64.8-65.9 points on a 100-point scale — Slovak Telekom finishes third.
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 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.
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
There was no winner of this award in the previous report. Slovak Telekom and O2 win the 5G Games Experience award jointly with scores of 90.7-91.6 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around three points over statistically tied Orange and 4ka.
The 5G mobile gaming experience is Excellent (85 or above) on all four operators — the vast majority of users deem this network experience acceptable. Nearly all users 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
Orange wins the 5G Download Speed award outright for the third time in a row. Orange has a lead of around 17Mbps over Slovak Telekom and 4ka, which place in second with due to their statistically tied scores. O2 comes fourth with a score of 117.9Mbps.
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 wins the 5G Upload Speed award outright for the third consecutive time, this time with a score of 34.3Mbps. Orange places in second and O2 and 4ka come third and fourth, respectively.
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
Orange retains its outright win of the Availability award. Our Slovakian users on Orange’s network spend 97.8% of their time with a 4G or better connection — Orange and Slovak Telekom have recently completed switching off their 3G networks, while O2 is in the process of doing the same. Orange’s score is slightly ahead of Slovak Telekom and O2, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 95.5-95.8% — 4ka has some catching up to do in fourth.
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
Orange and O2 win the 5G Availability award jointly — a change from the previous report, when the award was shared by O2 and Slovak Telekom. Orange and O2 share victory with statistically similar scores of 10.8-12.2%. Slovak Telekom is not far behind the lead, but 4ka has a fair bit of catching up to do.
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
Orange’s boost in score of two percentage points since the previous report allows it to claim the Consistent Quality award outright — overtaking the previous winner, Slovak Telekom. Slovak Telekom now places second, while O2 comes third and 4ka finishes last.
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