In light of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s “NTRA” efforts to enhance the quality of telecom services provided for users, the National Telecom Center for Monitoring Service Quality, subordinate to NTRA, issued its quality measurement report for the second quarter (Q2) of 2023 (from April to June 2023).
Measurement methodology entailed conducting quality-measuring tests on samples of voice calls and data services to determine the quality of telecom services provided for users within Egypt’s market. To this end, measuring equipment and vehicles were used for distances of 150 thousand kilometers, across major and sub roads of urban and rural areas, during second quarter of 2023.
Report findings were based on measuring the Key Performance Indicators of voice and data services as follow:
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of voice service:
- Call-Blocked Rate: Rate of unsuccessful attempts to start a phone call, out of the overall sample during a specific period of time.
- Call-Dropped Rate: Rate of disconnected phone calls for technical issues before being ended by either side, out of the overall sample during a specific period of time.
- Call Access Time: Rate of calls requiring a long time or taking long seconds, from the time the dial button is pressed until a ring is heard by the other side, out of the overall sample during a specific period of time.
- Voice Quality Rate: Level of voice purity during phone calls for measurement samples within a specific period of time.
Data service KPIs:
- Average http Download Throughput: Minimum download speed monitored for the lowest 10% of sample.
- Average http Upload Throughput: Minimum upload speed monitored for the lowest 10% of sample.
Below is the total number of cities and districts where voice quality issues were monitored in 2023-Q2, compared to 2023-Q1:
- Vodafone: Out of 114 cities and districts, the total number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service reached 22 during 2023-Q2 to mark an improvement, compared to 33 areas in 2023-Q1.
- Orange: Out of 114 cities and districts, the total number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service reached 35 during 2023-Q2. As monitored, the number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service improved during 2023-Q2, in comparison to 46 areas during 2023-Q1.
- Etisalat: Out of 114 cities and districts, the total number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service came up to 21 during 2023-Q2. As monitored, the number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service improved during 2023-Q2, in comparison to 23 areas during 2023-Q1.
- WE: Out of 114 cities and districts, the total number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service reached 61 during 2023-Q2. As monitored, the number of areas having poor quality indicators with respect to voice service improved during 2023-Q2, in comparison to 71 areas during 2023-Q1.
Below is the total number of cities and districts where data quality issues were monitored in 2023-Q2, compared to 2023-Q1:
- Vodafone: Out of 114 cities and districts, the number of areas suffering poor data transfer services improved during 2023-Q2 to reach 16, compared to 20 areas in 2023-Q1. A slight decrease in average download throughput was also monitored in June 2023 to reach 36 Mbps/ second, compared to 37 Mbps/ second in March 2023.
- Orange: Out of 114 cities and districts, the number of areas suffering poor data transfer services improved during 2023-Q2 to reach 15, compared to 39 areas in 2023-Q1. A rise in average download throughput was also monitored in June 2023 to reach 33 Mbps/ second, compared to 31 Mbps/ second in March 2023.
- Etisalat: Out of 114 cities and districts, the number of areas suffering poor data transfer services improved during 2023-Q2 to reach 4, compared to 5 areas in 2023-Q1. A slight decrease in average download throughput was also monitored in June 2023 to reach 42 Mbps/ second, compared to 43 Mbps/ second in March 2023.
- WE: Out of 114 cities and districts, the number of areas suffering poor data transfer services improved during 2023-Q2 to reach 1, compared to 6 areas in 2023-Q1. A rise in average download throughput was also monitored in June 2023 to reach 51 Mbps/ second, compared to 44 Mbps/ second in March 2023.
Measures taken by NTRA to improve service quality for users:
1 Number of areas being measured was augmented to 114
NTRA increased the number of areas being measured to 114, in order to ideally assess the level of operators’ compliance with quality parameters.
2. Fines of about EGP 20 million were imposed on mobile operators
NTRA imposed fines of about EGP 20 million on mobile operators for trespassing the parameters of mobile service quality during 2023-Q2.
3. New 862 cell sites were approved during 2023-Q2
NTRA approved the deployment of new 862 cell sites in Q3-2023, by an increase of 37% in comparison to same period of 2022.
4. Voice and data-transfer services were provided within the first phase of “Haya Karima” Initiative
NTRA provided voice and data coverage via mobile networks for 118 villages enlisted within the first phase of “Haya Karima”.
5. Law enforcement campaigns were executed nationwide to improve service quality
NTRA executed law enforcement across the whole nation to remove unauthorized repeaters and signal boosters which harm the service quality, where 264 points of interference were removed with a total number of 315 devices and 850 antennas during Q2-2023.