This report presents the results of the study, conducted for the fourth consecutive year, into the quality, from a user perspective, of the broadband Internet access services in Portugal. The corresponding fieldwork was conducted between 27 November 2009 and 7 February 2010 for mobile accesses, and between 5 December 2009 and 17 March 2010 for fixed accesses. The study was prepared and developed by ANACOM in partnership with QMETRICS and ERICSSON PORTUGAL, with support given by FCCN - Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (Foundation for National Scientific Computing).
Among the study’s main conclusions, note is made of the file download speeds using fixed accesses, with average speeds exceeding those of mobile accesses, and upload speeds using mobile technology, which in the most part, exceeded those of fixed technology. Likewise, download speeds were also tested for the transfer of files over a P2P application with fixed access. The performance was found to be considerably inferior to that found with FTP transfer. In terms of perceived quality of Web Browsing, it was found that fixed access provides average download times that are lower than those available using mobile technologies.
The main differentiating factor between fixed and mobile technologies, in terms of results, is manifested above all in network latency (delay in IP packet transmission), which has a very significant effect on interactive applications such as VoIP and online gaming. For this parameter, mobile broadband is reported as having higher latency for all destinations. Even so, the values reported in the worst case do not impede the use of VoIP applications.
The methodology used in this study can also be consulted in the report.
- Methodology Report - Study for the evaluation of the quality of service of broadband Internet access (HTML version) https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=339638
