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Maldives

Mobile Network Experience Report
June 2022

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.

Author: Robert Wyrzykowski, Senior Analyst Data Collection Period: Feb 01 - May 01, 2022

Maldives

Mobile Network Experience Report
June 2022

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumers' connectivity experiences. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding what happens when people use their mobile and broadband connections in their daily life.

Author: Robert Wyrzykowski, Senior Analyst

Data Collection Period: Feb 01 - May 01, 2022

Key Findings

The Excellent Consistent Quality award goes to Ooredoo

Ooredoo wins Excellent Consistent Quality outright, with a score of 70.5%, beating Dhiraagu by 14.3 percentage points. These scores reflect the percentage of users’ tests on operator networks meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.

Our users in the Maldives experienced average download speeds over 30 Mbps

We saw two statistical ties between Dhiraagu and Ooredoo in the speed awards. This means they jointly win Download Speed Experience and Upload Speed Experience in the first mobile network experience report on the Maldives. In Download Speed Experience, our users in the Maldives experienced average download speeds in the 32.1-35.1 Mbps range. Looking at average upload speeds, Dhiraagu and Ooredoo’s scores were in the 7.4-8 Mbps range.

Ooredoo wins Core Consistent Quality outright as well

Ooredoo claims the other Consistency award — Core Consistent Quality, with a score of 81.9%. Dhiraagu comes second, 11.8 percentage points behind the winner. This metric measures the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.

Ooreedoo wins 4G Coverage Experience outright, but shares Availability with Dhiraagu

Looking at the Coverage category, Ooredoo takes the top spot in 4G Coverage Experience, with a score of 9.2 points on a 10-point scale. It commanded a 0.5-point lead over its competitor, Dhiraagu. This means our users on the winner’s network connected to 4G services in more than nine out of 10 locations visited by our users on both operators’ networks. However, both operators jointly win the Availability award, with statistically tied scores in the 97.3-97.9% range.

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo share the winners’ podiums for the experiential awards

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo were in statistical ties for all three of the experiential awards — Video Experience, Games Experience and Voice App Experience. They both rated as Fair (40-55) for Video Experience, Poor (40-65) for Games Experience and Acceptable (74-80) for Voice App Experience.

Mobile Experience Awards

June 2022, Maldives Report
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Market Overview

In our inaugural report on mobile network experience in the Maldives, we saw a tightly-fought competition between the two national operators across all the categories. Ooredoo wins three awards outright — both Consistency awards and 4G Coverage Experience. In the remaining categories — including speed metrics, experiential awards and Availability — we observed six statistical ties between Dhiraagu and Ooredoo, which resulted in six joint wins for both of them.

Our results in this report are based on measurements collected across two major mobile operators in Maldives – Dhiraagu and Ooredoo – over the period of 90 days between February 1, 2022 and May 1, 2022, to see how they fared. 5G results contributed to the overall scores.

Overall Experience
Coverage
Consistency
Video Experience
Games Experience
Voice App Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Video Experience
in 0-100 points
Dhiraagu
51.8
Ooredoo
53.3
015304560
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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Games Experience
in 0-100 points
Dhiraagu
55.2
Ooredoo
59.7
016.53349.566
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Voice App Experience
in 0-100 points
Dhiraagu
75.7
Ooredoo
77.1
020406080
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
Dhiraagu
35.1
Ooredoo
32.1
010203040
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
Dhiraagu
8.0
Ooredoo
7.4
02.557.510
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

National Analysis

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo jointly win Video Experience, with statistically tied scores of 51.8-53.3 points on a 100-point scale respectively. They both placed in the Fair (40-55) category. This indicates that our users did not have a good experience either for higher resolution videos (very slow loading times and prolonged stalling) or for some video streaming providers. The experience on lower resolution videos from some providers might have been sufficient though.

Definitions

Opensignal’s Video Experience quantifies the quality of video streamed to mobile devices by measuring real-world video streams over an operator's networks. The metric is based on an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach, built upon detailed studies which have derived a relationship between technical parameters, including picture quality, video loading time and stall rate, with the perceived video experience as reported by real people. To calculate video experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the overall video experience for each operator on a scale from 0 to 100. The videos tested include a mixture of resolutions — including Full HD (FHD) and 4K / Ultra HD (UHD) — and are streamed directly from the world’s largest video content providers.

In addition to Video Experience, we report on the following metrics related to video experience:

  • 5G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Video Experience – 5G Users: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G video experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Video Experience: The average Video Experience of Opensignal users on an operator’s 3G network.

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National Analysis

Both Maldivian operators share the Games Experience award due to a statistical tie, with scores in the 55.2-59.7 point range. Dhiraagu and Ooredoo both rated as Poor (40-65) in terms of Games Experience. The majority of users reported seeing a delay in the gameplay experience and they did not receive immediate feedback on their actions. Many users felt a lack of controllability.

Definitions

Opensignal’s Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-100, it analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience is affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter.

Games Experience quantifies the experience when playing real-time multiplayer mobile games on mobile devices connected to servers located around the world. The approach is built on several years of research quantifying the relationship between technical network parameters and the gaming experience as reported by real mobile users. These parameters include latency (round trip time), jitter (variability of latency) and packet loss (the proportion of data packets that never reach their destination). Additionally, it considers multiple genres of multiplayer mobile games to measure the average sensitivity to network conditions. The games tested include some of the most popular real-time multiplayer mobile games (such as Fortnite, Pro Evolution Soccer and Arena of Valor) played around the world.

Calculating Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games. The score is then measured on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Games Experience, we report on the following metrics related to games experience:

  • 5G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Games Experience – 5G Users: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G games experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Games Experience: The average Games Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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National Analysis

After jointly winning Video Experience and Games Experience, Dhiraagu and Ooredoo share the winners’ podium for Voice App Experience as well. Our users on both these networks enjoyed an Acceptable (74-80) Voice App Experience. This means that some users were satisfied but some experienced perceptible call quality impairments. Listeners were generally able to comprehend without repetition.

Definitions

Opensignal's Voice App Experience measures the quality of experience for over-the-top (OTT) voice services — mobile voice apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — using a model derived from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) approach for quantifying overall voice call quality and a series of calibrated technical parameters. This model characterizes the exact relationship between the technical measurements and perceived call quality. Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.

In addition to Voice App Experience, we report on the following metrics related to voice app experience:

  • 5G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users when they were connected to an operator’s 5G network.
  • Voice App Experience – 5G Users: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator's networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G voice app experience along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 4G network.
  • 3G Voice App Experience: The average Voice App Experience of Opensignal users on an operator's 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO) network.

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National Analysis

The two Maldivian operators jointly win Download Speed Experience. Our users in the Maldives experienced average download speeds in the 32.1-35.1 Mbps range, meaning both Dhiraagu and Ooredoo hit the 30 Mbps mark for average download speeds.

Definitions

Measured in Mbps, Download Speed Experience represents the typical everyday speeds a user experiences across an operator’s mobile data networks.

In addition to Download Speed Experience, we report on the following metrics related to download speeds:

  • 5G Download Speed: The average download speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
  • Download Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average download speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G download speeds along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
  • 3G Download Speed: The average downlink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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National Analysis

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo also share the other speed award — Upload Speed Experience. Our users on these networks saw statistically similar average upload speeds, clocking in at 7.4-8 Mbps.

Definitions

Upload Speed Experience measures the average upload speeds for each operator observed by our users across their mobile data networks. Typically upload speeds are slower than download speeds, as current mobile broadband technologies focus resources on providing the best possible download speed for users consuming content on their devices. As mobile internet trends move away from downloading content to creating content and supporting real-time communications services, upload speeds are becoming more vital and new technologies are emerging that boost upstream capacity.

In addition to Upload Speed Experience, we report on five supporting metrics related to upload speeds:

  • 5G Upload Speed: The average upload speed observed by Opensignal users with active 5G connections.
  • Upload Speed Experience – 5G Users: The average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription across an operator’s networks. It factors in 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G upload speeds along with the availability of each technology.
  • 4G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 4G.
  • 3G Upload Speed: The average uplink speed observed by Opensignal users when they were connected to 3G (e.g. UMTS/HSPA or CDMA 1X EV-DO).

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Availability
4G Coverage Experience
Availability
% of time
Dhiraagu
97.3
Ooredoo
97.9
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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4G Coverage Experience
in 0-10 points
Dhiraagu
8.7
Ooredoo
9.2
02.557.510
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

National Analysis

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo jointly win the Availability award, with statistically tied scores in the 97.3-97.9% range. This means our users on Maldivian mobile operators connected to either a 3G, 4G or 5G services for 97.3-97.9% of the time.

Definitions

Our availability metrics are not a measure of a network’s geographical extent. They won’t tell you whether you are likely to get a signal if you plan to visit a remote rural or nearly uninhabited region. Instead, they measure what proportion of time people have a network connection, in the places they most commonly frequent — something often missed by traditional coverage metrics. Looking at when users have a connection rather than where, provides us with a more precise reflection of the true user experience.

We also keep track of the instances that leave mobile users most frustrated: when there is no signal to connect to at all. The most common dead zones users struggle with occur indoors. As most of our availability data is collected indoors (as that’s where users spend most of their time), we’re particularly astute at detecting areas of zero signal.

Our availability metrics take a user-centric, time-based approach that complements the user-centric and geographical-based methodology used by our reach metrics.

Availability shows the proportion of time all Opensignal users on an operator’s network had either a 3G, 4G or 5G connection.

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National Analysis

Ooredoo takes the top spot in 4G Coverage Experience, with a score of 9.2 points on a 10-point scale — and a winning margin of 0.5-point over Dhiraagu. This means our users on the winner’s network connected to 4G services in more than nine out of 10 locations visited by our users on both operators’ networks, while those on the runner-up’s network — in more than eight out of 10 locations.

Definitions

4G Coverage Experience measures how mobile subscribers experience 4G coverage on an operator’s network. Measured on a scale of 0-10, it analyzes the locations where customers of a network operator received a 4G signal relative to the locations visited by users of all network operators.

In simple terms, 4G Coverage Experience measures the mobile coverage experience in all the locations that matter most to everyday users — i.e. all the places where they live, work and travel. It considers all the areas that Opensignal users visit, the portion of locations that 4G is available to them, and locations that more users visit have higher importance to them.

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Excellent Consistent Quality
Core Consistent Quality
Excellent Consistent Quality
% of tests
Dhiraagu
56.2
Ooredoo
70.5
019385776
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
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Core Consistent Quality
% of tests
Dhiraagu
70.1
Ooredoo
81.9
021.54364.586
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Read why confidence intervals are important.
Download Image

National Analysis

Ooredoo claims the Excellent Consistent Quality award outright, with a score of 70.5%. Dhiraagu takes second place with a score of 56.2%, 14.3 percentage points behind the winner. These scores reflect the percentage of users’ tests on operator networks meeting the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.

Definitions

Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.

Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.

Excellent Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games.

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National Analysis

Ooredoo wins Core Consistent Quality award as well, thus collecting both Consistency awards. The operator secures this award with a score of 81.9% — 11.8 percentage points ahead of second-placed Dhiraagu, which scored 70.1%. Core Consistent Quality measures the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.

Definitions

Consistent Quality measures how often users’ experience on a network was sufficient to support common applications’ requirements. It measures download speed, upload speed, latency, jitter, packet loss, time to first byte and the percentage of tests attempted which did not succeed due to a connectivity issue on either the download or server response component.

Full details on how the Consistent Quality metrics — Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality — are calculated can be found here.

Core Consistent Quality is the percentage of users’ tests that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds for lower performance applications including SD video, voice calls and web browsing.

Learn more

Related Analysis

Our Methodology

Collecting billions of individual measurements daily from over 100 million devices globally, Opensignal independently analyzes mobile and broadband user experience on every major network operator around the globe.

About Opensignal

Opensignal is the leading global provider of independent insights into consumers' connectivity experiences and choice of carrier. Our proprietary insights into mobile and broadband networks give operators the solutions they need to profitably compete and win, from executive level scorecards and public validation to pin-point level engineering analytics and consumer decision dynamics.

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