Our most recent analysis of the India mobile market has shown the country's networks are going from strength to strength as competition reaches fever pitch. This has meant that OpenSignal's measurements, based on billions of measurements collected by over 700,000 devices in our latest State of Mobile Networks: India report, are more vital than ever in helping the country's operators improve their mobile network user experience.
Reflecting the huge amount of interest in India mobile, OpenSignal's Stefan Schoofs, Regional Vice President for Sales in EMEA and India, was recently invited to address a delegation from Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie (LBSNAA), the Indian government's premier institution dedicated to training high potential civil servants. The delegation hosted by the Civil Servants College was particularly keen to learn about the importance of continually measuring user experience on mobile networks, and the way that we at OpenSignal collect it through real-world measurements.
The delegation was also interested in our methodology and how we calculate our metrics and awards, as well as our experience of being in Tech Nation’s Future Fifty current cohort.
Stefan began by explaining the current dichotomy in measuring mobile networks performance:
Operators currently monitor and report on their own performance. This is not an independent view, neither is there any industry standardized way to measure network performance. There is a clear disconnect between operator Key Performance Indicators and customer experience surveys.
OpenSignal sees a need for accurate, independent measurement of actual customer experience on mobile networks. Our user-centric approach provides a rich source of real user experience data for mobile operators to understand the quality of service their subscribers are getting, and allows us to provide an independent source of information for subscribers deciding which network to select.
Our latest State of LTE report, which analyzes 4G performance in 88 countries, shows that India’s users could find an LTE signal 86% of the time, a rise of some 10 percentage points from the prior year. This places the country in our top 15 for 4G availability – ahead of many more mature Asian 4G markets including Singapore and Thailand. Stefan explained that this is a clear indication that the Indian mobile ecosystem is a unique market which is currently experiencing 4G growth:
4G in India is seeing amazing growth and 4G networks are still expanding. However there is an inevitable trade off with the quality of the network provided. India's 4G speeds are not doing so well compared to the rest of the world, but this is a normal phenomenon. We expect these speeds to increase with further investment, but the focus today is on growing availability.
With this in mind, the operators in India are leading the world in embracing on-device measurements as a key way to understand and communicate their network capabilities, and to ensure they continue to provide an outstanding subscriber experience. As for this matter, Stefan explained:
The telecom sector is developing at lighting speed, with fierce competition and heavy investment in 4G rollout. India's operators are competing in a mobile market of a billion people, and with several major mobile mergers announced in the last 18 months, it's more important than ever for operators to understand true experience of their subscribers.
For a full analysis of the Indian market, including a regional drill down, read our report in full at: State of Mobile Networks: India. Or have a look at how your operator is doing with the help of the OpenSignal app (available on iOS and Android).
Opensignal Limited retains ownership of this insight including all intellectual property rights, data, content, graphs & analysis. Reports and insights produced by Opensignal Limited may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed, published for any commercial purpose (including use in advertisements or other promotional content) without prior written consent. Journalists are encouraged to quote information included in Opensignal reports and insights provided they include clear source attribution. For more information, contact [email protected].