Norway
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.
Norway
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
Telenor has the Best Network
Telenor earns the title of Best Network. This recognition goes to those operators providing outstanding overall experiences nationally in key Opensignal metrics. For Norway these categories are: Reliability Experience, Consistent Quality, Download Speed Experience and Coverage Experience. Telenor wins three of these outright, while sharing the Reliability Experience award with ice due to a statistical tie.
Telia stays in first place for 5G Coverage Experience
As was the case in the last report, Telia is the outright winner of the 5G Coverage Experience award. This time it scores 5.1 points on a 10-point scale, giving it a very slender lead over Telenor’s five points. However, Telenor remains the sole winner of the Coverage Experience award. Opensignal’s Coverage Experience metrics measure the extent of overall and 5G coverage in the places our users live, work, and travel.
Telenor users see the fastest average speeds in Norway
Telenor holds onto the Download Speed Experience awards from our previous report and is now the outright winner of both upload speed awards — Upload Speed Experience and 5G Upload Speed. This is a change from last time around when Telenor and Telia shared when the latter two. This means that our Telenor users see the fastest average speeds when downloading or uploading data — both when measured across all generations of mobile technology combined and when connected to 5G. Telenor remains undefeated for Download Speed Experience, having won the award outright in every Norway mobile experience report we’ve published to date.
Telia users have the best experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G connections
Telia is the new outright winner of the 5G Games Experience award — a change from the previous report when all three Norwegian operators shared it. Telia wins with a score of 85.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around two points over Telenor and ice, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 83.2-83.4 points. Telia is also the only operator to place in the Excellent (85 or above) category for 5G Games Experience. However, all three operators continue to share the overall Games Experience award.
Telenor keeps hold of the Video Experience award
Our Telenor users continue to have the best overall experience when streaming on-demand video over cellular connections. Telenor retains the Video Experience award with a score of 75.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around one point over Telia and ice, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 73.8-74.1 points. All three operators share the 5G Video Experience award.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
In addition to earning the title of Best Network, Telenor is once again the most awarded operator. This time around, it wins seven awards outright, while being a joint winner in a further four categories — out of a possible 14 awards. Telia has the next largest haul, being the outright winner of the 5G Games Experience and 5G Coverage Experience awards, while also sharing first place across three awards.
At the start of 2025, ice will begin switching its national roaming partner to Telenor from Telia, with completion expected towards autumn 2025. In addition to altering the mobile experience of ice users, this change is also likely to impact those with Telenor and Telia, due to changes in network congestion. Opensignal will analyze these changes across future reports and insights.
Back in April 2024, Norway’s National Communications Authority (Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet, Nkom) confirmed Telenor as holding significant market power (SMP) and accordingly imposed certain obligations upon it, as part of a final decision on the regulation of Market 15 (wholesale market for access and call origination on mobile networks). Telenor is required to provide access to its mobile network on non-discrimatory terms for a three year period, during which it is subject to price and accounting controls for both MVNO and service provider access to its infrastructure.
In September 2024, ice announced that it has activated 5G standalone access (SA) technology and that it is using this to provide a dedicated network slice service to the Norwegian Armed Forces, tailored to their specific requirements. SA, unlike non-standalone access 5G, does not require users to be connected to 4G to use 5G and offers superior performance in terms of latency.
In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Norway — Telenor, Telia and ice — over a period of 90 days starting on August 01, 2024, and ending on October 29, 2024, to see how they fared.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
As was the case in the last report, Telenor is the outright winner of the Video Experience award. It wins this time around with a score of 75.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around one point over Telia and ice, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 73.8-74.1 points.
All three operators’ scores have risen by two points from those seen in the previous report.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p 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 three Norwegian operators continue to be locked in a statistical tie for the Games Experience award, indicating that our users do not see a meaningful difference in their overall experience when playing multiplayer mobile games between the three. Ice, Telia and Telenor are joint winners with tied scores of 78.2-78.4 points on a 100-point scale.
Ice’s score has increased by three points compared to the previous report, while Telenor’s and Telia’s scores haven’t changed by a significant amount.
All operators place in the Good (75-85) category. This indicates 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
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
Once again, Telenor is the outright winner of the Download Speed Experience award. It wins this time with a score of 125.6Mbps and a lead of 33Mbps (35%) over second-placed Telia’s 92.9Mbps. Ice comes third with a score of 62.5Mbps.
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
Telenor is the new outright winner of the Upload Speed Experience award, a change from the previous report when it shared the winners’ podium with Telia due to a statistical tie. Telenor wins with a score of 19.2Mbps and a lead of 2Mbps (8%) over now second-placed Telia’s 17.7Mbps. Ice is last with a score of 16.3Mbps.
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).
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Norway, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2024
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- Eastern Norway
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- Northern Norway
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- Southern Norway
- Trøndelag
- Western Norway
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in Northern Norway
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in Southern Norway
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in Trøndelag
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5G Experience
National Analysis
Our Norwegian users see no statistically significant difference between ice, Telenor and Telia in terms of their experience when streaming on-demand video over 5G connections. As a result, all three operators share the 5G Video Experience award. They do so with statistically tied scores of 77.3-77.5 points on a 100-point scale.
All operators place in the Very Good (68-78) category. This means that our users are, on average, able to stream video at 1080p or better with satisfactory loading times and little stalling over 5G connections.
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
Our Telia users have the best available experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G connections, making Telia the new outright winner of the 5G Games Experience award. This is a change from the previous report when all three operators shared the award due to a statistical tie. Telia wins with a score of 85.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around two points over Telenor and ice, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 83.2-83.4 points.
Telia places in the Excellent (85 or above) category, while Telenor and ice place one category lower, in Good (75-85).
An Excellent (85 or above) rating means that 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. 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
Telenor remains the outright winner of the 5G Download Speed award. This is because our Telenor users continue to observe the fastest average 5G download speeds in Norway — an impressive 283.8Mbps. This gives Telenor a lead of 99Mbps (54%) over second-placed Telia’s 184.7Mbps. Ice comes third with a score of 164.9Mbps.
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
Telenor has gone from sharing the 5G Upload Speed award in the previous report with Telia to winning it outright. It wins with a score of 38.5Mbps and a lead of 4Mbps (13%) over now second-placed Telia’s 34.2Mbps. Ice comes third with a score of 32.1Mbps.
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).
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Norway, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2024
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A-I
- Eastern Norway
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S-Z
- Southern Norway
- Trøndelag
- Western Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Eastern Norway
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in Southern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Southern Norway
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in Western Norway
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in Western Norway
Coverage
National Analysis
Once again, Telenor is the outright winner of the Coverage Experience award. It wins this time around with a score of 8.3 points on a 10-point scale. This means it commands a narrow lead over second-placed Telia’s 8.1 points. Ice comes third with a score of 5.4 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
As was the case in the previous report, Telia is the outright winner of the 5G Coverage Experience award outright. This time it scores 5.1 points on a 10-point scale, giving it a very slender lead over Telenor’s five points. Ice comes third with a score of 1.9 points.
All three operators’ scores have risen from those seen in the previous report. Telenor’s score has increased by two points, while Telia’s and ice’s scores have both improved by one point.
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
Ice remains the outright winner of the Availability award outright. This means that our ice users spend the most time in Norway with a mobile broadband connection. Ice wins this time around with a score of 99.4% and a lead of around one percentage point over Telenor and Telia, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 98.5-98.9%.
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
Telenor and Telia remain locked in a statistical tie and therefore continue to share the winners’ podium for 5G Availability. This time they share the award with scores of 16.1-16.2% and a lead of around five percentage points over ice, which places in third with its score of 11.5%.
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.
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Norway, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2024
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A-I
- Eastern Norway
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J-R
- Northern Norway
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S-Z
- Southern Norway
- Trøndelag
- Western Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Northern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Trøndelag
in Trøndelag
in Western Norway
in Western Norway
Consistency
National Analysis
Telenor once again wins the Consistent Quality award outright with a score of 88.1% and a lead of one percentage point over second-placed ice’s 87.1%. Telia comes third with a score of 83.7%.
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.
National Analysis
Telenor and ice share Opensignal’s new Reliability Experience award with statistically tied scores of 914-922 points on a 100-1000 point scale and a lead of around 12 points over Telia, which places in third with its score of 906 points.
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of our users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on operators’ networks. It consists of the following components:
Signal Availability — The proportion of time Opensignal users can successfully connect to a mobile network
Data Connectivity — the proportion of time when the network is available and the device can connect to the internet
Task completion — whether tasks initiated by the user’s device are completed
Sufficiency — The probability that (basic) tasks will be executed sufficiently well for the user
Definitions
Opensignal’s Reliability Experience measures the ability of Opensignal users to connect to and successfully complete (basic) tasks on communication service providers’ (CSP) networks. It analyzes how much Opensignal users’ experience is affected by the radio access and core network, along with issues that prevent them from connecting to the internet even if they have a connection to their CSP’s network. It also factors in users’ ability to successfully use lower performance applications including SD video, over-the-top voice calls and web browsing.
Regional Analysis
Regional Analysis Summary: Norway, Mobile Network Experience Report, November 2024
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A-I
- Eastern Norway
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J-R
- Northern Norway
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S-Z
- Southern Norway
- Trøndelag
- Western Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Eastern Norway
in Northern Norway
in Northern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Southern Norway
in Trøndelag
in Trøndelag
in Western Norway
in Western Norway
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