Telstra Wins the P3 CommsDay Mobile Benchmark for the Third Year in a Row

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11 Dec, 2016, 21:00 GMT

AACHEN, Germany and SYDNEY, December 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Optus is strong second with the highest voice score overall
Vodafone takes the lead in major cities
All operators show marked improvements

Australia's daily telecommunications journal CommsDay and international leader in mobile benchmarking P3 communications have released the 2016 edition of the P3 CommsDay Mobile Benchmark, an industry-leading annual mobile network test. Telstra did best overall, winning the 'Best in Test' accolade for the third year running, with 867 points out of a possible 1,000. Optus came in second place with 837 points, substantially narrowing the gap compared to last year. Vodafone, which achieved the biggest score increase year-on-year, came in third with 812 points. All three improved on their 2015 scores; P3 uses the same 1,000-point system in benchmarks around the world, and for each of Australia's operators to score over 800 points this year marks out the country as having an extremely consistent level of high-quality mobile performance.

Now in its third year, the comprehensive test measured the voice and data performance on the three operators' networks in nine major Australian cities; in a range of smaller towns and cities; and along connecting roads in more regional areas, covering about 17,000 test kilometres overall. As in previous years, P3 updated the methodology for 2016 to capture as many of the latest network developments as possible. In particular, this year's benchmark included data not just from specially-equipped drive test vehicles, but also from new walk tests using proven P3 technology. This opened up a new level of granular and detailed testing in the five largest cities and provided deep insight into network performance indoors, in central business districts and tourist hotspots, and even on public transport in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

In the 2016 tests, Telstra succeeded in pushing up its overall score from an already high base to win for the third year running, driven by a hefty improvement in its data scores; on average, Telstra did best on data performance across the board. Reflecting the larger reach of its network into regional areas, Telstra also secured its win in smaller cities and towns and along connecting roads and highways - with a particularly dominant showing in data testing in these areas.

Optus came in a much closer second than in the previous two years, reflecting a very strong improvement in both voice and data and a very consistent performance across the big cities, smaller towns and cities, and more regional connecting routes. In particular, Optus excelled in voice testing for 2016 with the highest voice scores overall.

Vodafone, which had put in a huge improvement between the 2014 and 2015 benchmarks, again achieved the biggest score increase for 2016. Notably, Vodafone - which has historically concentrated much of its network investment in major metropolitan areas - had the best aggregate voice and data performance this year in the major cities.

"CommsDay congratulates Telstra on keeping its number one position again for 2016, in the face of increasingly tough competition from Optus and Vodafone," said CommsDay Group Editorial Director Petroc Wilton. "It was particularly impressive to see all of the Australian operators continue to improve this year, considering the very solid performance and significant score increases that each of them had already achieved last year. The improvements in 2016 have really made all of them stand out at a global level."

"Customers' expectations are constantly growing - expanding data volumes and rising transmission speeds are regarded to be absolutely normal. We take account of this development by constantly raising the requirements and thresholds of the tests and despite that, all tested networks improved steadily through the year," said P3 communications Managing Director Marcus Brunner. "We have observed that a side-effect of frequent network-testing is that it helps motivate operators to invest in constant performance improvements - meaning that customers eventually benefit."

CommsDay's reputation for objective and insightful reporting and analysis across every area of the telco market, along with P3's proven expertise in mobile and fixed networks testing, have made the independent mobile benchmark a leading resource for Australian operators. Assuring a fair, transparent and neutral evaluation of the networks across consistent test environments, the benchmark establishes a clear ranking and overall test winner.

Download

Full Benchmark Report

http://www.p3-group.com/en/Report-P3-CommsDay-Mobile-Benchmark-Australia-2016

Video

http://www.p3-group.com/en/Video-P3-CommsDay-Mobile-Benchmark-Australia-2016

Image Material

http://www.p3-group.com/en/Image-Material_P3-CommsDay-Mobile-Benchmark-Australia

Press Release

http://www.p3-group.com/en/Press-release-P3-CommsDay-Mobile-Benchmark-Australia-2016-results

About P3 communications: http://www.p3-networkanalytics.com

About CommsDay: http://www.commsday.com

- Cross reference: Picture is available via epa european pressphoto agency -