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Quantifying Norway’s urban-rural mobile experience divide

Posted: Apr 19, 2023

In this Opensignal analysis, we have found that our urban users in Norway see average download speeds that are over 20% faster than those observed by their rural counterparts. However, the rural-urban divide for Download Speed Experience is smaller in Norway than in neighboring countries. Moreover, there is no statistically significant difference between the Availability measured by our Norwegian users in either urban or rural locations.

The rural urban divide widens with 5G rollouts in Italy

Posted: Aug 30, 2022

Italian operators first deployed their 5G commercial services in June 2019 and December 2020, while focusing their initial roll-outs mainly on densely populated urban areas, to maximize their return on investment. While this is a common global 5G approach, it comes at the potential cost of leaving rural users behind.

Users in Austria see a better 5G experience in urban areas than in rural ones

Posted: Aug 17, 2022

In our latest analysis, we compared the network experience of our Austrian smartphone users when they connected to mobile data services in urban and rural areas. Our study shows that users in Austria’s urban areas had significantly better mobile network experience than those in rural areas. They enjoyed faster download speeds, while also remaining connected to mobile networks for a higher amount of time. However, the differences were not always statistically significant at an operator level.

Indonesian users who changed operators had a below average mobile experience

Posted: Apr 14, 2021

Opensignal has analyzed mobile subscriber churn in Indonesia and found that our users who changed their mobile operator on average had a worse mobile experience before they switched compared to the typical experience on their original network. Moreover, all our users that we have seen switching mobile operators had a better experience on their new mobile network. Our users who left 3, Indosat, Smartfren and XL on average spent less time without a mobile signal on their new network.

The rural-urban mobile divide is narrowing in New Zealand

Posted: Apr 12, 2021

Opensignal’s latest analysis of New Zealand’s mobile experience reveals notable disparities in our users’ experience between urban and rural areas on three major operators: Spark, 2degrees and Vodafone. However, the rural experience is clearly improving, likely as a result of government and operator efforts. But 5G threatens to complicate the rural-urban picture further, unless both government and operators use 5G to further boost the rural experience.

Mobile experience explains why Germany’s users change mobile operators

Posted: Feb 24, 2021

Opensignal has analyzed the mobile experience of smartphone users who changed mobile network operators in Germany. We found that our users who changed their mobile service provider on average had a worse mobile experience before they switched compared to the typical experience on their original network.

Broadband snapshots: Italy

Posted: Sep 04, 2020

Key points

  • The real-world broadband experience is highly dependent on the location of users’ homes, and users care about the experience where they live, and not nationally. Users’ speeds are higher on almost every ISP in urban areas, followed by suburban and rural areas.

Broadband snapshots: Germany

Posted: Aug 21, 2020

Key points

  • The real-world broadband experience is highly dependent on the location of users’ homes, and users care about the experience where they live, and not nationally. Users’ speeds are higher on almost every ISP in urban districts.