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Benchmark Again Ranks Telstra Number One

Benchmark Again Ranks Telstra Number OneThe benchmark, published by consulting,
engineering and testing services company P3 and tech publication
CommsDay, compared the Vodafone, Telstra and Optus networks, recording
big improvements for all carriers in 2015.

This year, the total
measurement area represented around 70 per cent of the Australian
population, up from around 50 per cent last year, with Telstra coming
out on top across the vast majority of categories, while Vodafone
recorded massive year-on-year gains.

In the voice category,
Telstra came out ahead on all metrics, however the benchmark notes that
“competition was fierce with metro voice performance a much closer race
than last year”, with all three operators demonstrating very stable call
performance. Outside the main cities, Telstra continues to wield an
advantage over its rivals by virtue of its larger network.

In the
mobile data category, the benchmark notes that all “operators’ networks
proved extremely reliable and stable in the metro areas, with session
ratios close to perfect in almost all tests”, with Telstra again “a
particular standout”.

“Much of the investment made by operators
in their networks is designed to achieve higher data speeds that, split
between all the users on a network, make everyday tasks go just that bit
smoother: things like sending and downloading music files, photos and
emails,” the benchmark notes. “So some of their individual strengths
started to come out in up- and download testing.”

For smaller
file downloads, 90 per cent of samples clocked better than 9.9 Mbps on
Telstra, with Optus in second with 8.4 Mbps and Vodafone 5.5 Mbps. For
peak testing, over a 10-second window Telstra recorded the highest
average downstream throughput at 46.4 Mbps, with Optus 38.3 Mbps and
Vodafone 31.7Mbps.

Vodafone came out on top in peak metro upload
testing, with an average throughput of 19.9 Mbps, with Telstra recording
18.7 Mbps and Optus 9.5 Mbps.

Again, for mobile data, moving out
of the major metropolitan areas, scores began to separate out, with
Telstra a clear leader in almost all categories.

In total, across
all categories Telstra posted a final score of 84.6 per cent, followed
by Optus with 78 per cent and Vodafone with 72 per cent. All three
telcos posted improvements on their 2014 rankings, with Telstra up from
79 per cent, Optus from 61.4 per cent and Vodafone from 51.6 per cent.

“While
the operators’ respective network investments have really pulled
through into clear improvements in this year’s results, they’re all
pushing ahead with even more upgrades and enhancements – and have all
committed to the capital expenditure they’ll need to stay at the
forefront of mobile technology,” the benchmark notes.

“So we can expect to be able to measure corresponding improvements in next year’s benchmark.”

Voice
over LTE (VoLTE) represents one of the biggest changes taking place
right now, the benchmark further observes, with VoLTE to be measured in
the 2016 report.