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Iraq

Mobile Network Experience Report
January 2025

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.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Principal Analyst Data Collection Period: Sep 01 - Nov 29, 2024

Iraq

Mobile Network Experience Report
January 2025

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.

Author: Sam Fenwick, Principal Analyst

Data Collection Period: Sep 01 - Nov 29, 2024

Key Findings

Asiacell dominates the Iraqi mobile experience, winning all awards outright

Asiacell has managed the impressive feat of winning all nine Opensignal awards for the mobile experience of our Iraqi users outright and earns the title of Best Network. It came close in our last report, when it shared the Games Experience award with Zain due to a statistical tie, while winning all the other awards outright.

The most reliable and most consistent experience is with Asiacell

Once again, Asiacell wins both Opensignal’s Reliability Experience and Consistent Quality awards. It comes top for Reliability Experience with a score of 792 points on a 100-1000 point scale — 76 points ahead of second-placed Korek. For Consistent Quality, Asiacell scores 43.5%, giving it a slender one percentage point lead over Korek.

Asiacell’s customers are able to connect in more places more often

Asiacell’s impressive haul of awards includes both Availability awards — meaning our Asiacell users in general spend the greatest proportion of time on 3G/4G, while our Asiacell 4G users spend the highest proportion of time connected to 4G in Iraq. The operator also wins the Coverage Experience award, which means that Asiacell users experience the best geographical coverage in populated areas.

Asiacell users see the fastest overall average speeds in Iraq

As was the case in the previous report, Asiacell is the outright winner of both the Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience awards. It wins the former with a score of 27.9Mbps and a lead of 6Mbps over second-placed Zain’s 22Mbps. However, Zain's score has increased the most from the previous report, rising by 8Mbps, compared to Asiacell's rise of 4Mbps. Similarly, while Asiacell places top for Upload Speed Experience with 9.6Mbps and a lead of 3Mbps over Zain, Zain’s score has risen by 1Mbps.

The best mobile video streaming experience is with Asiacell

Asiacell again wins the Video Experience award outright, this time with a score of 56.5 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around nine points over Korek and Zain, which are statistically tied for second place.

Mobile Experience Awards

January 2025, Iraq Report
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Market Overview

While Asiacell has achieved an impressive clean sweep of Opensignal’s award table, the Iraqi mobile market is bracing for disruption in the form of a new government-owned 5G operator. In December, the Iraqi government signed a deal with Vodafone. Vodafone will provide consultancy services in areas such as network design and commercial strategies to help ensure the new operator launches successfully. The two parties have signed both a statement of work for the consultancy and a memorandum of understanding. The latter encompasses future services that Vodafone could provide to the new operator.

Ooredoo Group (Asiacell’s parent company) signed a deal at Mobile World Congress in early 2024 with Huawei, which will see the two companies work to upgrade all Ooredoo’s core networks in Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria and the Maldives to a 5G core with service-based architecture. It will be therefore interesting to see if the Iraqi government’s move prompts Asiacell to invest further in 5G.

In this report we examine the mobile network experience of the three main mobile network operators in Iraq — Asiacell, Korek and Zain — over a period of 90 days starting on September 01, 2024, and ending on November 29, 2024, to see how they fared.

Because Asiacell wins the following key metrics — Reliability Experience, Consistent Quality, Coverage Experience and Download Speed Experience, it earns the title of Best Network.

Overall Experience
Coverage
Consistency
Video Experience
Games Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Asiacell
56.5
Korek
46.7
Zain
48.7
015304560
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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Games Experience
in 0-100 points
Asiacell
50.4
Korek
44.2
Zain
47.3
014284256
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Asiacell
27.9
Korek
12.0
Zain
22.0
07.51522.530
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Asiacell
9.6
Korek
4.5
Zain
6.8
0481216
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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National Analysis

Once again, Asiacell wins the Video Experience award outright, this time with a score of 56.5 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around nine points over Korek and Zain, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 46.7-48.7 points.

Asiacell's, Korek's and Zain's scores haven't changed by a significant amount since the previous report.

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.

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National Analysis

Asiacell is the new outright winner of the Games Experience award — a change from the last report, when it shared the award with Zain. Asiacell wins with a score of 50.4 points on a 100-point scale and a lead of around five points over Korek and Zain, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 44.2-47.3 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.

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National Analysis

Our Asiacell users continue to observe the fastest overall average download speeds in Iraq. As a result, Asiacell remains the sole winner of the Download Speed Experience award outright. It does so with a score of 27.9Mbps and a lead of 6Mbps over second-placed Zain’s 22Mbps. Korek is last with a score of 12Mbps.

However, Zain's score has increased the most from the previous report, rising by 8Mbps, compared to Asiacell's rise of 4Mbps. Korek's score hasn't changed by a statistically significant amount since the previous report.

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).

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National Analysis

As was the case in the previous report, Asiacell is the outright winner of the Upload Speed Experience award outright. It wins with a score of 9.6Mbps and a lead of 3Mbps over second-placed Zain’s 6.8Mbps. Korek is last with a score of 4.5Mbps.

Zain's score has increased by 1Mbps. Asiacell's and Korek's scores haven't changed by a statistically significant amount since the previous report.

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).

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Coverage Experience
Availability
4G Availability
Coverage Experience
in 0-10 points
Asiacell
6.3
Korek
4.6
Zain
5.9
02468
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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Availability
% of time
Asiacell
98.1
Korek
95.0
Zain
94.8
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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4G Availability
% of time
Asiacell
86.0
Korek
71.9
Zain
77.8
022.54567.590
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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National Analysis

As was the case in the last report, Asiacell is the outright winner of the Coverage Experience award. It does so with a score of 6.3 points on a 10-point scale and a lead of less than one point over second-placed Zain’s 5.9 points. Korek comes third with a score of 4.6 points.

Asiacell's score has increased by less than one point. Korek's and Zain's scores haven't changed by a statistically significant amount since the previous report.

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.

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National Analysis

Asiacell continues to win the Availability award outright, doing so this time around with a score of 98.1%. It commands a lead of around three percentage points over Korek and Zain, which share second place with their statistically tied scores of 94.8-95%.

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.

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National Analysis

Once again, Asiacell is the outright winner of the 4G Availability award. It does so this time around with a score of 86% and a lead of around 11 percentage points over Korek and Zain, which place in second with their statistically tied scores of 71.9-77.8%.

Korek's score has increased by seven percentage points. Asiacell's and Zain's scores haven't changed by a statistically significant amount since the previous report.

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.

4G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 4G device and a 4G subscription — but have never connected to 5G — had a 4G connection.

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Consistent Quality
Reliability Experience
Consistent Quality
% of tests
Asiacell
43.5
Korek
42.6
Zain
26.9
011.52334.546
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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Reliability Experience
100-1000 points
Asiacell
792
Korek
716
Zain
620
100276.5453629.5806
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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National Analysis

Asiacell continues to be the outright winner of the Consistent Quality award. It wins this time around with a score of 43.5% and a lead of one percentage point over second-placed Korek’s 42.6%. Zain comes third with a score of 26.9%.

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.

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National Analysis

Asiacell remains the sole winner of the Reliability Experience award outright with a score of 792 points on a 100-1000 point scale. It commands a lead of 76 points over second-placed Korek’s 716 points. Zain comes third with a score of 620 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:

  • % time connected — 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.

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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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