Mobile Network Performance Benchmarking

Governorate of
Dakhiliyah

Regulatory & Compliance Unit

Quality of Service Department
Contents
1. Background
2. Test Methodology
3. Performance Indicators Definition
4. Results
5. Conclusion
1. Background

A comprehensive field test was conducted independently by TRA to assess and benchmark the
performance of Omantel and Ooredoo mobile voice and data networks in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.

Field Survey Date & Time: 4th – 8th May 2015 from 9:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Services Tested

Network Service Technology

Omantel Voice 2G, 3G
Data 3G, 4G
Ooredoo Voice 2G, 3G
Data 3G, 4G
Test Area

Governorate Wilayat
Dakhiliyah Bidbid, Samail, Izki, Nizwa (including Jabal Al Akhdar), Bahla,
Al Hamra, Manah, Adam
2. Test Methodology

The following test configuration was used for measurements:

Service Technology Objective Test sequence KPIs measured

Tested Mode

Omantel- Open (2G, To check network Calls of 60 sec duration with a 20 CSSR, CDR, CSR,
Mobile voice 3G) accessibility, retain-ability, sec idle wait time between them to RxLev, RSCP.
mobility, service integrity allow for cell reselection from 2G to
and coverage 3G mode.

Omantel- Open (2G, To check data network HTTP file download from the Latency, Ping Packet
Mobile data 3G, 4G) performance and service providers network and ping Success Rate, Avg.
coverage test. downlink throughput,
RSCP, RSRP.
Ooredoo- Open (2G, To check network Calls of 60 sec duration with a 20 CSSR, CDR, CSR,
Mobile voice 3G) accessibility, retain-ability, sec idle wait time between them to RxLev, RSCP.
mobility service integrity allow for cell reselection from 2G to
and coverage 3G mode

Ooredoo- Open (2G, To check data network HTTP file download from the Latency, Ping Packet
Mobile data 3G,4G) performance and service providers network and ping Success Rate, Avg.
coverage test. downlink throughput,
RSCP, RSRP.
3. Key Performance Indicators Definition

Mobile voice performance was measured based on the following set of KPIs:

Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR)– This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls successfully
established without facing blockage in the network as a ratio of the total number of call attempts made to access
and establish a voice call. (to check network accessibility)

Call Drop Rate (CDR) – This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls dropped due to technical
problems or coverage gaps in the service provider’s network as a ratio of the total number of calls successfully
established. (to check network retain-ability)

Call Success Rate (CSR) – This indicator is used to measure the percentage of calls successfully established
without facing blockage in the network as a ratio of the total number of call attempts made to access and establish
a voice call and then successfully terminated from the user-end without being dropped or disconnected from the
network side due to a technical irregularity. (to check service integrity)

Mobile data performance was measured based on the following set of KPIs:

Packet Latency - Packet delay, which represents the time taken for data packets to pass through the GPRS
bearer in a round-trip time from the mobile to the server in the service provider’s core network and back to the
mobile. (to check delay in the network)

Ping Packet Success Rate is the percentage of packets lost between designated routes in the network. It is
used to indicate the loss of data packets during transmission over a telecommunications network. (to check data
integrity)

HTTP Average downlink throughput - This is the average downlink throughput (rate at which data/bits are
transferred to the user) experienced by a user while downloading content from the Internet. (to check download
speed)
Performance Indicators Definition continued

Coverage is assessed based on the following radio parameters:

Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) – This indicator measures the linear average of the received power
on reference signal resource elements in the downlink during the drive test (to check 4G coverage).

Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) – This indicator measures the received signal code power of the pilot
channel in the downlink during the drive test (to check 3G coverage).

Received Signal Level (RxLevSub) - This indicator measures the received signal strength in downlink during the
drive tests (to check 2G coverage).

The following convention is used for the coverage plot.

Serving Cell RSRP (dBm) 3G CPICH RSCP (dBm) 2G RxLevSub (dBm)

Range Classification Penetration
Range Range
>= - 85 >= -80 >= -75 Excellent Indoor
>= -95 and < -85 >=-87 and <-80 >=-82 and <-75 Good
>= -105 and < -95 >=-100 and <-87 >=-95 and <-82 Fair In-Car
>= 120 and < -105 <-100 <-95 Weak Outdoor Only
4. Results
4.1 Mobile Voice Coverage

Voice Coverage Distribution

100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
PDF(%)

50.00
40.00 84.14
74.21
30.00
20.00
10.00 8.94 5.72 1.19 14.55 10.21 1.03
0.00
Omantel Ooredoo

Excellent Good Fair Weak

4.2 Mobile Voice Performance

Voice Performance Indicators

100

90

80

70

60
Value (%)

50 99.46 98 98.74 95
86.96 82.31
40

30

20

10
5.35 0.72 0.8
0
CSSR CDR CSR
KPI

Omantel Ooredoo TRA Threshold

CSSR: Call Setup Success Rate (Higher is better)

CDR: Call Drop Rate (Lower is Better)

CSR: Call Success Rate (Higher is better)

4.3 Mobile Data Download Speed

Overall Avg. Download Speed (Mbps)

30 30
5.08
5 5
4.61
0 100 0 100

Speed Distributon (Mbps)

Very Fast (5 to 100) Fast (2 to 5) Fair (0.5 to 2) Slow (0 to 0.5)

Ooredoo

Omantel

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
4.4 Mobile Data Performance

Overall Data Performance

250 100

99.95
200 99.94

Ping Packet Success Rate (%)

Packet Latency (ms)

99.9
150
99.85
217.83
100
99.8

50
87.29 99.75
99.74

0 99.7
1

Packet Latency Omantel Packet Latency Ooredoo

TRA Threshold (Packet Latency) Ping Packet Success Rate Omantel
Ping Packet Success Rate Ooredoo

Packet Latency (ms): Lower is Better, Ping Packet Success Rate: Higher is Better
4.5 Mobile Data Performance Per Town/Wilayat

10 350

9
300
8

250
Avg. Download Speed (Mbps)

Packet Latency (ms)

6
200
5
150
4

3 100

2
50
1

0 0
Fanja Bidbid-Samail Izki Nizwa Jabal Akhdar Al Hamra Bahla Manah Adam
Town/Wilayat

Avg. Downlink throughput (Mbps) Omantel Avg. Downlink throughput (Mbps) Ooredoo
TRA Threshold (Packet Latency) Avg. Packet Latency (ms) Omantel
Avg. Packet Latency (ms) Ooredoo
 5 Conclusion
• In General, Omantel mobile network exhibits stronger voice coverage than Ooredoo throughout the
Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah.
• Ooredoo mobile network lacks basic voice coverage on the Jabal Akhdar access road from Birkat Al Mouz to
the top of the mountain.
• Ooredoo mobile network exhibits better voice performance than Omantel network with all KPIs meeting the
TRA thresholds.
• Omantel mobile network exhibits poor voice performance with all KPIs not-meeting the TRA thresholds. Call
blocking is found to be significantly high throughout the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah on Omantel network.
• Omantel mobile data network has good LTE footprint throughout the main Wilayat centers. No LTE coverage
was found on Ooredoo data network throughout Al Dakhiliyah Governorate.
• Omantel mobile data network exhibits good data performance with overall high download speeds and low
network delay which is within the TRA threshold.
• Ooredoo mobile data network exhibits fair data performance with overall good download speeds but the
network delay is extremely high and does not meet the TRA threshold in any Wilayat or Town.

Basis of results and conclusion

• The coverage information is based on the geographical drive test route used during the measurement exercise.
• The exercise has been conducted independently by the Authority without sharing any prior information with the
service providers about the type of tests being performed or location.
• The results of the exercise are based on the data collected from the field at a certain instance of time and day;
network behaviour may vary with traffic variations over time and events.
• Industry standard tools and work best practices have been used during the whole exercise.