Traditionally, the competition in Austria takes place on a high level. So it is even more remarkable that this year’s winner was once again able to improve considerably.
Since 2009, our great network test has included the mobile networks in the alpine countries. From the very beginning, the Austrian operators were consistently among the best when we compare all three countries.
And year after year they present a neck and neck race at the highest level.
All of this is extremely pleasant for Austrian cellular customers who can chose between three strong providers. And on top of this, the offerings of these providers are definitely more affordable than in the neighbouring Germany. Only tremendous roaming tariffs in the Non-EU neighbouring Switzerland frequently offend Austrian smartphone users.
At least, the Austrian operators seem to re-invest also controversial revenues like these in upgrading and expanding their mobile service. In fall 2017, Austria‘s LTE networks have reached a pleasantly high stage of completion. And the fact that especially the Austrian winner was able to once more improve on its performance compared to the previous year conveys a clear message.
We were even more excited to learn about the results of the drivetest conducted by P3 in eleven big cities and in 20 smaller towns as well as on approximately 5,000 kilometres of roads in Austria. And about the results of the walktests conducted in seven cities, supplemented by about 21 hours of travelling in various Austrian trains.
VOICE
The quality and reliability of voice connections represent 40 per cent of the final score. Which operator offers the best network in this respect?
In the assessment of voice telephony, A1 takes the lead in all tested scenarios. Having achieved top results in all of the disciplines, A1 impresses particularly with its results of the walktests conducted in big cities. Here, the operator achieved the full number of possible points.
While A1 competently defends its top position, its two contenders Drei (Three) and T-Mobile fiercely fight for the second rank. They are at level in the big city walktests, while Drei takes a small step ahead in the big city drivetests and T-Mobile takes a narrow lead in the smaller towns. On the connecting roads, the ranking order is even a little more distinct: A1 gathers the highest number of points, Drei follows at a distance on the second rank, and T-Mobile ranks third, falling yet a little further behind Drei.
In Austria, A1 is currently the only provider who offers the modern VoLTE to its customers. Short call set-up times and high KPIs for voice quality prove that this investment was worthwhile.
Data
Data tests account for 60 per cent of the final score. Who delivers the best performance in this category?
In the supreme discipline of data connectivity, the three Austrian operators rank even closer together. We observe some fierce fighting in all tested categories.
In the big cities, A1 takes a close lead ahead of its also extremely strong competitors. Remarkably, the situation is almost vice-versa in smaller towns: Here, Drei and T-Mobile together take the leading position – but this competition takes place on an overall considerably higher level than in the neighbouring Germany. The stability and data speeds that the Austrian mobile networks provided in cities and towns have reached a standard that Germany customers can only watch with envy.
The competition about offering the best connectivity on Austrian rural roads happens at a comparably high level. In this case, the ranking order of A1 leading, followed by Drei and after that T-Mobile is still a little more distinct. But even the third-ranking T-Mobile offers a performance standard that in Germany can only be found in the top duo. Austria is well prepared for the demands of connected mobility.
Mobile connectivity in trains
Compared to these excellent results, the success ratios, quality parameters and data rates available to mobile phone and data users on the railways drop a little. But all in all, Austrian customers can also be happy about these results – especially when making the comparison with their large northern neighbour Germany.
While A1 succeeds in defending its top position in the discipline of making voice calls in trains, in the data category, the Hutchison network Drei achieved slightly better results for data connections in the trains. It is followed by A1 and after that by T-Mobile.
Single review
A1
Last year‘s winner A1 is not only able to defend its first rank, but actually manages to even enhance its position. This year‘s result of the Austrian market leader reflects an impressive 23 point gain over the previous connect mobile network test. A1 is one step ahead of the competition both in the voice and in the data discipline. However, its lead is even more distinct regarding voice telephony and still in the demanding railway connections. All in all, a very convincing performance!
Drei
Even if Drei loses some points in the voice discipline in comparison to the previous year, the Hutchison company keeps up well and is able to gather a few additional points in the important data tests. Like over their market shares, Drei is fiercely competing with T-Mobile over the technical performance too. On points, this operator is behind A1 in the voice and data test alike, but still ahead of T-Mobile in both categories. So, a very good second rank is well deserved.
T-Mobile
Compared to the previous network test, T-Mobile Austria continued to improve. This year, it catches up considerably to its constant rival Drei. We recognize distinct improvements in the data discipline, but T-Mobile loses some points over last year‘s results in the voice tests. This applies particularly to the connecting roads. But all of this is complaining while enjoying an already very high standard. So, the third rank in Austria still fully deserves the grade “very good“.