Rohde & Schwarz to Benchmark Icelandic Mobile Network Quality with ETSI Methodology
The Electronic Communications Office of Iceland (ECOI) has selected Rohde & Schwarz mobile network testing to assess and benchmark the performance, coverage and capacity of the country’s three mobile network operators. The campaign is intended to ultimately improve the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for the end users in Iceland, given the island’s challenging geography and climate. ECOI commissioned Rohde & Schwarz network analytics services to roll out a benchmarking campaign based on an internationally standardized, transparent process based on the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
The national regulatory authority Fjarskiptastofa (FST) – internationally known as the Electronic Communications Office of Iceland (ECOI) – commissioned Rohde & Schwarz to conduct a large-scale mobile network quality benchmarking campaign in Iceland. The mobile network testing experts from Rohde & Schwarz planned and implemented the benchmarking campaign as a service for ECOI. The collected data was processed using the Network Performance Score (NPS) 2.0. The NPS is a fully transparent test methodology in line with ETSI TR 103 559 that compares standardized KPIs for mobile networks using active drive and walk tests.
ECOI is one of the first regulatory authorities in Europe to rely on the NPS for such a large-scale network benchmarking campaign. The NPS is based on a methodology described by the European standardization organization ETSI in ETSI TR 103 559. It provides an industry-proven standard and internationally comparable quality of service and user experience assessments for mobile networks.
The campaign was conducted over five weeks in September and October 2023. Roughly 9 000 km were driven through big cities like Reykjavik, small towns and on remote roads around the entire island. The network quality within shopping malls was also assessed. Approximately 90 % of Iceland’s population was covered. The campaign included over 17 000 calls and the evaluation of over 160 000 data tests, including application level tests for 90-second voice calls, eGaming applications, online meetings and video chats to assess the typical experience for current subscribers. NPS version 2.0 applies more challenging thresholds and intricate weighting, especially for developed networks dominated by 5G technology, as is the case in Iceland.
Maja Mitic, Director Network Analytics Services Mobile Network Testing at Rohde & Schwarz, said, “Iceland has vast open landscapes and a rough climate that can make it challenging for operators to provide the best possible network coverage, especially with 5G in the game. ECOI is among the first regulatory authorities in Europe to trust Rohde & Schwarz with such a transparent and unbiased large-scale benchmarking campaign to assess a country’s network quality and user experience. It’s a crucial step to ensure further investment, innovation and consumer protection through enhanced competition among Icelandic network operators.”
