On January 28th 2018, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) released a network performance report that it conducted the period between September to November 2019. The report indicated that Airtel Uganda had the fastest mobile data services while Africell lacked when it came to drop call rate. However, the UCC report said that MTN and UTL came out on top with the least towns registering high drop call rate. It however left the telecom giant in the middle with no direct recognition.
According to our sources, MTN Uganda refuted some aspects of the UCC report from the regulator sighting several issues and the regulator’s inability to follow some international standards.
UCC conducted benchmark measurements of mobile voice telephony and data services in Uganda to assess the Quality of Service (QoS) received by users/consumers of these services. A few weeks later, MTN Uganda has now been bestowed upon with the title of the telecom company in Uganda with the “Highest Network Performance Score” for its data and voice services. The tests were conducted by Rohdes & Schwarz, using the ITU/ETSI standards and methodology.
Who hired Rohdes & Schwarz ?
Its still unclear who hired or invited the Munich based technology firm to conduct the tests on telecom networks in Uganda, and our efforts to get a copy of the full results of this bench-marking tests are still underway. Rohde & Schwarz is a renown international organization that specializes in auditing 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G performance of mobile networks across the globe using the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/ETSI standards and methodology.
This publication has not yet received a copy of the full benchmark carried out by Rohdes & Schwarz but in a press release, MTN says the tests were conducted on ground in Uganda, during the 3rd quarter of 2019 a similar period in which UCC conducted it tests. The telecom giant maintains that the tests were carried out within the framework of a study that involved extensive tests of voice calls and internet speed evaluations across over 8,500km around the country as well as static tests in hot spots. Just like UCC’s tests, the benchmark tests by Rohdes & Schwarz were also independent and conducted on network quality and performance for all networks of all mobile operators in Uganda. The results were reportedly bench-marked against leading European mobile telephone operators using the network performance scoring methodology of European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) TR 103 559 S.
The MTN CEO further noted that the advantage of using this global standard of measurement (is that), it challenges us to not only be the best in Uganda but also benchmark ourselves against leading networks across the world. Our consistent investment in the network over the years is getting us ever closer to the ‘best in class’ global networks.
According to MTN in response to Rohde & Schwarz ‘s benchmark results, it’s network had the highest aggregated voice performance score across major towns and on highways. This specifically with regard to placement and quality of calls. In addition, MTN Uganda also registered the highest aggregated data performance score in relation to quality of videos and ability to stream.
MTN is the market leader with more than 13 million customers in Uganda and has made it a strategic priority to deliver and maintain a positive experience for customers using their network.
Commenting on the subject, MTN Uganda Ag. Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Mr. Samuel Sentongo said, “MTN Uganda’s innovation agenda requires that we constantly invest, upgrade and maintain a robust network, one that can optimally carry and sustain both voice and data traffic as well as the rapidly growing mobile financial services portfolio”.
