cROWD

45,324 users in the Netherlands have contributed around 237 million measurement samples between late May and early November 2020. umlaut has conducted a thorough analysis of this extensive data base, using a further refined crowdsourcing methodology compared to previous years.

While the drivetests and walktests determine the peak performance of the examined networks, ­­crowdsourcing can add important dimensions such as time, geo­graphy or variety in devices and tariff plans – if done in the right way. A detailed description of our crowdsourcing ­methodology can be found here. The total area covered by our crowdsourcing analyses is 36.503 square km of the Netherlands, ­representing 98.8 per cent of the ­built-up area of the country and 99.7 per cent of its population.

QUALITY OF BROADBAND SERVICE

VODAFONE LEADS THE MARKET IN QUALITY OF BROADBAND SERVICE

VodafoneZiggo is well ahead of the competition in terms of Broadband Coverage Excellence, which rewards Broadband deployment over the whole area of a country and also 4G/5G availability in places where the competition is not yet present or only with limited availability. In the Time on Broadband KPI, Vodafone is almost on par with T-Mobile. This value designates how often a single user had 4G or 5G reception during the observation period – showing that this attribute is high for the customers of all three operators. KPN shows room for improvement in terms of Coverage Excellence.

DOWNLOAD SPEEDS

T-MOBILE TAKES THE LEAD IN ALL DOWNLOAD SPEED

CLASSES, FOLLOWED BY VODAFONE

In our crowdsourced assessment of Download Speeds, T-Mobile achieved the best results in all considered speed classes. Voda­fone follows closely behind, all the way up to the most demanding speed class, UHD Video (up to 20 Mbps).

However, the fact that this highest speed class shows a lower share of samples for all candidates can also be explained with the “passive observation“ method used in the crowdsourcing: Over their daily smartphone usage, customers just more rarely use applications with higher bandwidth demands. 

KPN scores on the last third rank in all considered speed classes, but also achieves overall good results in this category.

 

LATENCY

VODAFONE AHEAD IN LATENCY METRIC,

FOLLOWED BY T-MOBILE AND THEN KPN

In our examinations of Latency, Vodafone is leading the field, achieving the best results both in the OTT Voice Class (roundtrip ­times of 100 ms or less) and in the Gaming Class (roundtrip times of up to 50 ms).

T-Mobile is following at close distance, still achieving a share of 95 per cent of the collected samples meeting the requirements of the demanding ­Gaming Class.

Also in this category, KPN is ranking third. But again, this operator also achieves very good ­results in this area, with still a very high share of 94 per cent of samples in the challenging ­Gaming Class.

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VODAFONE TAKES THE LEAD IN THE CROWD CATEGORY, T-MOBILE FOLLOWS AT CLOSE DISTANCE. 
KPN COMES IN THIRD WITH 
A GAP OF EIGHT POINTS.

 

CROWD RESULTS AT A GLANCE

In the crowdbased score, Vodafone takes a close lead, out­ranking the also very strong T-Mobile at a distance of just one point. KPN follows with a more distinct gap of eight points, still accomplishing a very good result. Vodafone is well ahead of the competition in terms of Broadband Coverage Excellence and almost on par with T-Mobile in the Time on Broadband KPI. T-Mobile is ­taking the lead in all Download Speed classes, closely followed by Vodafone. Vodafone is leading in the Latency assess­ment in both classes, OTT voice and Gaming, this time ­followed by T-Mobile at close distance.