ANACOM has today released the report on its fourth global study evaluating the quality of the broadband Internet access service, from the perspective of a residential/private user, as well as details of the methodology used. The study was prepared and conducted in partnership with QMETRICS and ERICSSON PORTUGAL, with support given by FCCN - Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (Foundation for National Scientific Computing). APRITEL - Associação do Operadores de Telecomunicações (Association of Telecommunications Operators), Direcção Geral do Consumidor (Directorate General for the Consumer ) and the suppliers of the Internet access service (ISP and mobile operators), which were the object of the study, were also involved, with their suggestions and opinions taken into consideration in formulating the corresponding methodology.
The study on the quality of the Internet access service 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, and involved the three mobile operators with UMTS access technology (Optimus, TMN and Vodafone Portugal), as well as the Internet access providers, Cabovisão, Optimus, Sapo, Vodafone Portugal and Zon TV Cabo.
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 for all destinations. However these differences are less marked in the case of international accesses. To the contrary, it was found that upload speeds using mobile technology, in the most part, exceeded those of fixed technology.
With respect to peer-to-peer (P2P) testing, which was performed using fixed accesses, in line with findings in terms of file download speeds, the highest values were obtained for the national server. The differences found between FTP and P2P download speeds are significant, whereas with some operators (Zon, Cabovisão and Sapo), a drop in speeds obtained through P2P was observed during the period between 4pm and 1am; this was not found in the case of FTP download speeds.
The perceived quality of Web Browsing leads to the conclusion that, in general, fixed access provides lower average page download times than provided by mobile technology.
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 (USA server) do not impede the use of VoIP applications.
Consult:
- Study on the quality of the broadband Internet access service https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1056551
See also:
- Portugal has quality broadband Internet https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1056930
