In the coverage figures determined this way, all three operators achieve very good results for voice telephony. Magenta leads the field in data coverage (which includes 3G and 4G reception). At small distances each follows A1 and then Three. When it comes to 4G coverage, the lag of Three behind the leading two operators is a little more obvious.

In contrast, Three is ahead regarding data throughputs in urban areas. But when we look closer at the ­rural areas, A1 is ahead both in the download and upload disciplines.

And while we observed some smaller ano­malies at Three and somewhat more extensive ones at Magenta in the six-month evalua­tion ­period. we could not identitfy any degradations in the A1 network during this period of time.

As in the previous year, Magentra (formely T-Mobile Austria) takes the overall win in Austria. The winner owes its narrow lead of four points ahead of its pursuer A1 to obtaining the best ­results both in the voice and in the data category of our comparison. With distinct improvements over the previous year, ­Magenta receives the overall grade “outstanding“.

A1 Telekom also performs “outstanding“ and follows in a neck-and-neck race for the overall win at a distance of only four points behind Magenta. In order to reach this level, this operator clearly managed to improve over its performance from the previous year too. Among the con­vincing ­results is also the excellent rreliability which we could identify in the six-month crowdsourcing observation period.

In the overall assesment, the smallest contender in Austria achieved the most distinct improvement over last year‘s results. Its performance in the voice and data categories range slightly above the level shown in the previous year – in spite of tighter criteria. In the crowdsourcing assess­ment, Three shows a clear advance. The operator also deserves recognition for the best Youtube performance in smaller towns.