Oman
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.
Oman
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.
Key Findings
Omantel wins 5G Upload Speed outright
Our Omantel users saw the fastest average 5G upload speeds in Oman — 16.4 Mbps, 3 Mbps (22%) faster than the 13.4 Mbps seen by our Ooredoo users. However, Omantel shares the 5G Download Speed award with Ooredoo because they have statistically tied scores of 189.6-200.1 Mbps. These are an impressive 5.5-5.8 times faster than the two operators’ overall Download Speed Experience scores — highlighting the impressive enhancement in mobile experience from 5G.
Ooredoo comes top for 5G Games Experience
Our Ooredoo users had the best available experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G connections. Ooredoo wins with a score of 75.2 points on a 100 point scale, and a lead of 5.4 points over Omantel’s score of 69.8 points. Ooredoo also is a joint winner for the overall Games Experience award alongside Vodafone, given their statistically tied scores of 61.9-63.1 points.
No one is faster than Vodafone for overall speed
New market entrant Vodafone wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright with a score of 12.2 Mbps, around 3.5 Mbps faster than Omantel and Oooredo, which both scored 8.7 Mbps. Vodafone also shares the Download Speed Experience award with Omantel because their scores are statistically tied at 36.6-38.4 Mbps.
Our Omantel 5G users spent the most time with an active 5G connection
Omantel is the first Omani operator to win the 5G Availability award. It does so with a score of 20.5% and a lead of 7.9 percentage points over Ooredoo’s score of 12.7%.
Vodafone has the most consistent experience in Oman
Vodafone is the outright winner of both the Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality awards. It wins Excellent Consistent Quality with a score of 75.3% and a lead of 12.8 percentage points over second placed Ooredoo’s 62.5%. Similarly, Vodafone comes top for Core Consistent Quality with 87.7% and a lead of 6.6 percentage points over Ooredoo’s 81.1%. In the last report, Ooredoo won both awards outright.
Mobile Experience Awards
Market Overview
While this is the third report on Oman’s mobile network experience, this is the first time Opensignal has analyzed the 5G experience of our Omani users and it’s also the first report to feature Oman’s new operator, Vodafone, in the overall experience categories. However, it is still too early to include Vodafone in the 5G awards.
Ooredoo narrowly wins the most awards. It is the sole winner of the Voice App Experience, 5G Games Experience and Availability awards, and shares five awards with its rivals including 5G Download Speed.
Omantel has the next largest haul of awards, winning 5G Upload Speed and 5G Availability outright, while sharing first place in five categories, including both download speed awards.
New entrant Vodafone picks up both awards for consistency (Excellent Consistent Quality and Core Consistent Quality), along with the Upload Speed Experience award and three joint wins — Video Experience, Games Experience and Download Speed Experience. However, as it only launched its service back in March 2022, Vodafone’s network is new and the experience may change as it gains more subscribers, the load on the network increases, and also as it resolves any teething problems in its new infrastructure. In addition, as Vodafone’s rollout continues, it will offer mobile services in more rural locations. These factors mean that Vodafone will have to work hard to maintain its position in future reports, especially if the established operators — Omantel and Ooredoo — respond to their new competition.
In this report, we've analyzed data gathered in the 90 day period beginning on September 1 and ending on November 29, 2022, to see how Oman’s two established national operators — Omantel and Ooredoo — and new entrant Vodafone measure up. 5G measurements contribute to the overall scores in all categories.
Overall Experience
National Analysis
All three Omani operators are joint winners of the Video Experience award, with scores of 55-57.1 points on a 100 point scale, due to a three-way statistical tie. This means that our Omani users did not observe any significant difference between the three operators when streaming mobile video over cellular connections.
Omantel, Ooredoo and Vodafone all placed in the Good (55-65) category. As a result, our users on their networks had an acceptable but inconsistent experience, even from the same video streaming provider and particularly for higher resolutions, with noticeably slow loading times and stalling not being uncommon.
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.
National Analysis
Ooredoo and Vodafone share the Games Experience award with statistically tied scores of 61.9-63.1 points on a 100 point score. This is a change from the previous report when Omantel and Ooredoo were joint winners. This time around, Omantel trailed behind the winners by around 2.1 points.
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.
National Analysis
Ooredoo is the outright winner of the Voice App Experience award. It wins with a score of 78.2 points on a 100 point scale, giving it a lead of under one point over second placed Omantel’s 77.3 points. Vodafone is in third place with 75.8 points. In the previous report, Ooredoo and Omantel shared the award.
All three operators placed in the Acceptable (74-80) category. This indicates that some users were satisfied. Some users experienced perceptible call quality impairments. Clicking sounds of short duration or distortion were heard, and/or the volume may not have been sufficiently loud. 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.
National Analysis
Our Omantel and Vodafone users observed the fastest average overall download speeds in Oman, given the two operators’ statistically tied scores of 36.6-38.4 Mbps. Ooredoo — which previously shared the Download Speed Experience award with Omantel has been relegated to third place, with a score of 32.5 Mbps.
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).
National Analysis
Newcomer Vodafone wins the Upload Speed Experience award outright — and by an impressive margin. Our Vodafone users observed average overall upload speeds of 12.2 Mbps, around 3.5 Mbps faster than Omantel and Oooredo users, which both reported scores of 8.7 Mbps. In the last report, Ooredoo was the outright winner.
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).
5G Experience
National Analysis
Our Omantel and Ooredoo users did not observe any statistically significant differences in their experience when streaming mobile video over 5G connections. As a result, Omantel and Ooredoo jointly win the 5G Video Experience award with scores of 72.2-74.7 points on a 100 point scale, and they placed in the Very Good (65-75) category.
A Very Good rating means generally fast loading times and only occasional stalling but the experience might have been somewhat inconsistent across users and/or video providers/resolutions.
Definitions
5G Video Experience quantifies the quality of mobile video experienced by Opensignal users on real-world video streams when they were connected to 5G. 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 5G Video Experience, we are directly measuring video streams from end-user devices and using this ITU approach to quantify the video experience observed by our users on each operator’s 5G network 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.
National Analysis
Our Ooredoo users had the best available experience when playing multiplayer mobile games over 5G connections. Therefore, Ooredoo is the outright winner of the 5G Games Experience award. It wins with a score of 75.2 points on a 100 point scale and a lead of 5.4 points over Omantel’s score of 69.8 points.
Our Ooredoo users had a Good (75-85) 5G Games Experience, while Omantel placed in the Fair (65-75) category. A Good rating indicates that most users deemed their experience acceptable. The gameplay experience was generally controllable and the user received immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Most users did not experience a delay between their actions and the game.
Definitions
5G Games Experience measures how mobile users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming on an operator's 5G network. It analyzes how our users’ multiplayer mobile gaming experience was affected by mobile network conditions including latency, packet loss and jitter. 5G Games Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
5G 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 5G Games Experience starts with measuring the end-to-end experience from users’ devices to internet end-points that host real games.
National Analysis
Omantel and Ooredoo are joint winners of the 5G Voice App Experience award with statistically tied scores of 81.1-81.7 points on a 100 point scale. This puts both operators in the Good (80-87) category. This means that many users were satisfied. Some users experienced minor quality impairments. Sometimes the background was not quite clear, it could have been either hazy or not loud enough. Clicking sounds or distortion were very rarely present.
Definitions
5G Voice App Experience quantifies the experience of Opensignal users when using over-the-top voice apps — such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger — on an operator’s 5G network. It uses 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. 5G Voice App Experience for each operator is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
National Analysis
Our Omantel and Ooredoo users did not see a statistically significant difference in their average 5G download speeds. Therefore, Omantel and Ooredoo share the 5G Download Speed award with scores of 189.6-200.1 Mbps.
The 5G uplift in Omantel and Ooredoo users’ experience when compared against the overall network experience is impressive. Their average 5G download speeds were 5.5 and 5.8 times faster, respectively, than their average overall download speeds measured across all generations of mobile technology.
Definitions
5G Download Speed shows the average download speed experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Download Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
National Analysis
Omantel is the first Omani operator to win the 5G Upload Speed award. It does so with a score of 16.4 Mbps, 3 Mbps (22%) faster than the average 5G upload speeds that were seen by our Ooredoo users — 13.4 Mbps.
Omantel and Ooredoo’s 5G Upload Speed scores were 1.9 and 1.5 times faster than their Upload Speed Experience scores highlighting the improved experience enabled by 5G.
Definitions
5G Upload Speed measures the average upload speeds experienced by Opensignal users across an operator’s 5G network. 5G Upload Speed for each operator is calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second).
Coverage
Omantel
Ooredoo
Vodafone
National Analysis
Ooredoo wins the Availability award outright with a score of 98.7% and a lead of around 1.3 percentage points, given Omantel’s and Vodafone’s statistically tied scores of 96.9-97.7%. This is a change from the previous report, when Omantel and Ooredoo shared the award.
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.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
National Analysis
Our Omantel 5G users spent the largest proportion of their time with an active 5G connection — 20.5% — making Omantel the outright winner of the 5G Availability award. It wins with a lead of 7.9 percentage points over Ooredoo’s score of 12.7%. 5G Availability is an important measure of the mobile experience, measuring the proportion of time that users had an active 5G connection.
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.
5G Availability shows the proportion of time Opensignal users with a 5G device and a 5G subscription had an active 5G connection.
Map Definition
The coverage maps show the locations where we received measurements from users connecting with 3G or better mobile service. Each map provides an indication of the areas in which it is possible to obtain mobile service from that mobile operator.
Consistency
National Analysis
Oman’s newest operator, Vodafone, wins the Excellent Consistent Quality award outright with a score of 75.3% — the proportion of our users’ tests on its network that met the minimum recommended performance thresholds to watch HD video, complete group video conference calls and play games. It wins with a lead of 12.8 percentage points over second placed Ooredoo’s 62.5%, while Omantel brings up the rear with 58.3%.
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.
National Analysis
Vodafone comes top for Core Consistent Quality with a score of 87.7% and a lead of 6.6 percentage points over Ooredoo’s 81.1%. Omantel is in third place with 75.7%. In the previous report, Ooredoo won outright with a score of 82.3%.
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.
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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Confidence Intervals
For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.
In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.
In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.
Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience