The latest reports on the quality of service of GSM mobile networks in Portugal, made by ANACOM in 2005 and covering operators OPTIMUS, VODAFONE and TMN, are already available. These reports are named “Global Study” and “Rail Axels Study”.
As with the previous studies, quality of service was assessed with automatic end-to-end tests (thus identifying on the field the quality of service from the user’s standpoint), based on three performance indicators of a mobile network: coverage, accessibility and audio quality.
The “Global Study”, made between September and October 2005, which tested all of the mainland’s district capitals and main road axles, showed that GSM mobile networks have good coverage and performance levels.
Confirming the trend of the latest years, GSM mobile networks in Portugal continue to have very good accessibility levels -around 97% of test calls were successfully made and adequately kept - and no significant performance differences were registered between urban agglomerations and road axels. Regarding the service’s audio quality, the study concludes that about 99% of test calls showed good or acceptable quality values, on average. However, the decay trend that is being observed since 2002 continues.
Concerning the “Rail Axels Study”, which analysed the main Portuguese rail axels (Braga-Lisbon, Lisbon-Faro and Lisbon-Coimbra-Guarda) during November 2005, results show that GSM mobile networks have less than satisfactory average performance levels. In terms of accessibility, only 61.8% of test calls were successfully made and adequately kept. Regarding the audio quality level, only about 92% of test calls had good or acceptable average quality values.
Furthermore, the study shows that the rail axles’ less than satisfactory results are mainly due to serious deficiencies in the service’s coverage which sometimes lead to a total absence of radio signal, especially in the Lisbon-Faro route.
Consult:
- GSM Mobile Networks - Quality of Service Survey Global Study - Mainland Portugal https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=678442
- GSM Mobile Networks - Quality of Service Survey - Rail Axels (November 2005) https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=678418
See also:
- Mobile operators with poor performance on rail axels https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=333845
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Mobile Networks and Services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=17181
- Quality Reports https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=293535
