Free gets only two indicators above the average of 258 in a survey on the quality of the mobile network and conducted by ARCEP.
End of school year requires, it is time to publish the transcripts and assessments that go with it. In telecoms, is that ARCEP supported. The regulator announced on Monday the results of its survey on the quality of voice and data over mobile networks . In total, 90,000 2G and 3G measurements were performed with a wide variety of situations (indoor, outdoor, car, train ...) and services (telephony, SMS, mobile Internet). The differences are quite significant between the four operators.
Orange still leads
In this little game is to Orange again wins the prize for best service. The operator obtains notes above average in 83% of cases. Compared to the previous survey, Bouygues Telecom progresses and delights SFR second place with 29% of indicators above average against 15%. Free up the rear with only 2 notes above average; in 59% of cases it gets below average results.
Given the anticipation and the density of its network, the dominance of the incumbent is not a surprise. 3G, it is he who shows the best performance in terms of median flow, either in the downlink (download) or uplink (sending files). "We constantly optimize our network, it is a criterion strategic differentiation, "says Delphine Ernotte, Director of Orange France. On flows, Bouygues Telecom has increased significantly compared to last year. The operator benefits from recent investments in its network. When the subsidiary of Bouygues carried out the conversion of its 2G frequencies (1,800 MHz) for 4G, he also took the opportunity to strengthen its 3G equipment. The group should build on these achievements to illustrate the redesign of its strategic model.
Surprising results
The poor performance of SFR are more surprising. On 3G speeds, the number two market is neck-and-neck with Free. "Despite 20 years of deployment, performance is very flattering," mocks a competitor. Work on its network could partly explain this performance-cons. Since mid-2013, along with the addition of 4G, SFR has undertaken a complete renovation of its network to be completed end of 2014. "We undertook heavy work. But the first results in some major cities show that the quality is now higher than that obtained previously, "says Will we in the operator.
On the measurement of 3G speeds, Free, whose network is being deployed and leases a portion of Orange infrastructures, is like a bad student. As measured by ARCEP, the download (downstream) fails in 31% of cases in the fourth operator, against 12-13% for its competitors. "Free is still running-in period, says an industry expert. But these poor results also show that the roaming agreement with Orange does not solve the problem of quality of services. This is a strong incentive to invest. " In general, the results of four 3G operators are not completely satisfactory, even if the mean flow rate increases by 30%. "There are too many failures, recognize one of them. This reflects some gridlock. We must continue to invest in 3G, parallel with the deployment of 4G. "