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?
The testing staff of P3 examined the quality and stability of voice connections in Switzerland by conducting drive tests and walk tests. During these tests, Sunrise quickly turned out to be ahead in most of the examined scenarios. This is quite clear for phone calls out of cars in larger cities. But in more rural areas (smaller towns as well as on the tested connecting roads), the gap between Sunrise and Swisscom shrinks down to one or two points. In the results of our walk tests conducted in large Swiss cities, the competitors Sunrise and Swisscom are actually on par. Salt keeps some distance to the two leading contestants, but still achieves very good results. While Sunrise and Swisscom improved over last year‘s results, the third Swiss operator that was formerly known as “Orange“ more or less stays at the same level than last year. Up to now, Swisscom is the only operator in Switzerland who supports VoLTE. This modern voice standard that was applied for a part of the test calls, contributes to Swisscom‘s excellent results in the voice category. However, in the final scoring Sunrise stays still close ahead.
Data
Data tests account for 60 per cent of the final score. Who delivers the best performance in this category?
The standings and tendencies that we could observe in the voice category repeat themselves almost identically in the data discipline. Sunrise accounts for the biggest improvement over last year‘s results in this category. This is quite obvious in the larger cities where Sunrise‘s lead over the also very strong Swisscom is a little more pronounced in the drive tests than in the walk tests.
For example, Sunrise achieves impressive success rations of 100 per cent for file downloads or Youtube playbacks in the cars. In contrast, in the smaller towns and on connecting roads, the leading duo is almost on par – once again on a very high level.
In the data measurements, Salt has to settle for the third rank once more – but this again only means that Sunrise and Swisscom were able to improve over last year‘s results, while Salt kept its still strong performance stable. In this context, we should bear in mind that Salt attacks its two strong competitors with a particularly aggressive pricing. This makes Salt‘s offerings all the more interesting. Above all, Salt‘s results are definitely top notch when compared to those from other countries.
Mobile connectivity in Swiss railways
The tendencies observed in the voice and data measurements conducted in larger cities and smaller towns as well as on the connecting roads, prevail for the tests of phone calls and data connectivity in Swiss railways too. Again, in this category Swiss customers have every reason to be happy. Their operators achieve the best results within the three countries at a distinct distance. Indeed all three Swiss operators achieve a remarkably high performance and reliability in the challenging task of providing connectivity to moving trains in the demanding Helvetic topology. When looking at the detailed results in railway tests, Sunrise is slightly ahead in the voice category, while Swisscom scores a tad higher in the data measurements. Salt again comes in third regarding both voice and data communications while still showing very good results.
Single review
Sunrise
Both in the voice and data measurements, Sunrise achieves excellent results. Compared to the previous year, the operator improved in both categories. Due to a distinct gain in points in data communications, Sunrise brings in the overall win. Interestingly, the gap to last year‘s winner is quite wide – although Swisscom achieved very good results this time as well. For the first time in the connect mobile network test for Germany, Austria and Switzerland we have to award the grade “outstanding“.
Swisscom
The test results clearly show that last year‘s winner Swisscom has improved as well during the last twelve months. However, in the final scoring Swisscom was beaten by the second largest contender Sunrise. Nevertheless, Swisscom‘s customers can rest assured because with its excellent test results this Swiss operator would still immediately lead the field in Germany or Austria.
Salt
The smallest Helvetic mobile network provider achieves stable – and very good – overall results, both in the voice and the data categories. As they basically remain at the same level than in the previous year, Salt comes in third in the overall Swiss ranking. But when we compare the results of all three countries, Salt is still a top tier. Moreover, Salt attacks both of its competitors quite successfully with its aggressive pricing.