GSM mobile networks of TMN, Vodafone and Optimus show good capacity to keep long voice calls. According to a quality study made by ICP-ANACOM, 93.3% of the test calls were successfully established and the communication kept during a five-minute period.
According to the quality study made by the regulator, about 98% of the test calls had good or acceptable audio quality levels. However, 2% of the calls showed poor or bad perception levels.
As with other studies made by the regulator on the same spots, coverage indicator is high.
However, comparing the results of this study to those of the one made in October/ December 2004, regarding average length calls (110 seconds), the indicator accessibility - the capacity of establishing and keeping a connection - shows levels that are lower for long calls. In fact, during long calls, 93.3% of the connections are established and kept successfully, which compares to 97.6% of the average length calls.
Concerning audio quality, 59% of the long calls show good perception, whereas average length calls do better, with a 68.1% ratio.
According to the study, when it comes to long calls the results of the several mobile operators Optimus, TMN and Vodafone don’t vary much. Concerning accessibility, in Vodafone's network 94% of the calls were finished normally; that was the case with 93.3% in Optimus' network and 92% in TMN's. Concerning audio quality, Vodafone is again the operator with the best quality level, with 63.8%; followed by TMN, with 60.8%, and Optimus, with 52.4%.
The tests that ANACOM carried out, which analysed coverage, accessibility and audio quality, were made during the month of May. This study considered long duration calls, the calls with a length of five minutes. When choosing spots to make the measurements - road axles Lisbon-Porto (A1); Porto-Valença-Porto (A3 and IC1); Lisbon-Sintra-Cascais-Lisbon (A5 and IC19); and Lisbon-Vila Real de Stº António (A2 and A22) - critical factors for the maintenance of a call, namely mobility, were taken into account.
With this study, the regulator intends to monitor the mobile operators' quality of service. In fact, in the scope of its current activities, ICP-ANACOM intends to monitor the quality of the terrestrial mobile service in a broader way along the year.
Consult:
- GSM Mobile Networks - Quality of Service Survey - Long Calls (May 2005) https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=678519
