Networks pass the test

School’s out for the summer, but this week carriers received a network-performance progress report. And this is one carriers will want to show off on their refrigerator doors.

An independent, market-level study of wireless network performance released by the CTIA (www.wow-com.com) and wireless market intelligence firm Telephia (www.telephia.com) found that, on average, wireless subscribers in core and suburban areas can expect to place, hold and complete a conversation of acceptable voice quality 96-99% of the time.

“The wireless industry has put its money where its mouth is on providing quality service — spending more than $18 billion last year to improve and upgrade its networks,” said Tom Wheeler, CTIA president and CEO. “Competition always benefits consumers, and this study shows that wireless technology is more accessible, more reliable and more effective than ever before.”

The CTIA-commissioned research focused on three primary criteria that comprise overall network quality. The Quality Coverage Index, or “the percentage of time wireless consumers are able to place a call with acceptable audio quality” was 95.8% in core areas and 95.7% in suburban areas. The Dropped Call Index, or “percentage of time wireless consumers experience a dropped call,” was 2.4% in core areas and 4.2% in suburban areas. The Blocked Call Index, or “percentage of time wireless consumers experience blocked calls,” revealed 1.4% in core markets and 2.4% in suburban markets.

“The blocked and dropped calls were slightly higher in the suburban markets, which is largely attributed to not enough antenna towers,” said Kimberly Kuo, CTIA spokesperson.

Between November 1999 and April 2001, Telephia analyzed seven sample market- representing about 15% of the U.S. population, or 40 million people. The markets are diverse in their geography, population and degree of competition, but cities tested weren’t revealed. Each market tested has an average of six carrier networks.

About 700,000 measurements were taken: 505,000 in core markets, or major commute arteries with 400,000-plus employees per square mile or along major freeways; and 191,000 in suburban markets, or census blocks with 3,000 or fewer residents per square mile.

Telephia tested according to market-level consumer experience, or the market-share-weighted average of each carrier’s performance to represent a typical wireless user in that market.

Telephia monitored AMPS, CDMA, Cellular, GSM, IDEN, PCS and TDMA networks. Each market was driven twice, with simultaneous drive testing of all carriers in each market using sophisticated field-measurement equipment that interfaces directly to a handset.

Telephia tested networks with 2-minute calls, made while driving highways during rush hours (7-9 a.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m.). (According to the CTIA, the average wireless call is 2.36 minutes.) Core and suburban areas were driven during mid-day (major and secondary roads) Test areas covered about 90% of that area’s working population.

According to Kuo, each call was tested multiple times within the 2-minute period to ensure the voice quality remained high. The tests were quite stringent; Telephia measured for crystal-clear quality. Even 1 second of static meant that the call didn’t make the grade.

“This study represents a rigorous analysis of wireless network performance across diverse U.S. markets," said John Oyler, Telephia president. “We took about 700,000 individual readings to test the quality of wireless networks where people live and work, in order to emulate the actual user experience. In the end, we found wireless customers in cities across the country receive a consistently high level of service.”

This is remarkable, Kuo said, considering that the number of subscribers and MOU have increased substantially, too.

“Given that perspective, we felt it was a very positive finding for the carriers,” she said. “They’re very actively spending and it’s highly competitive, so they have to serve their customers better.” Kuo said the CTIA will regularly continue this type of market testing with Telephia every 6 months or a year to determine network-performance trends. And don’t rule out data testing in the future, she said, although now the CTIA is more focused on voice quality.

Despite the CTIA/Telephia findings, the entire industry is attuned to the fact that the FCC may have the biggest impact on network performance in the next few years.

“If we’re going to expect this level of service to continue, there’s going to need to be more spectrum available for wireless carriers,” Kuo said. “That’s what keeps calls from being blocked or dropped and keeps quality good.”

Network Performance: Results Summary Core Suburban Quality Coverage Index* 95.8% 95.7% Dropped Call Index* 2.4% 4.2% Blocked Call Index* 1.4% 2.4% *Quality Coverage Index: “The percentage of time wireless consumers are able to place a call with acceptable audio quality” *Blocked Call Index: “The percentage of time wireless consumers experience blocked calls” *Dropped Call Index: “The percentage of time wireless consumers experience a dropped call” Network Performance: Progress Report Initial drive tests showed 5 of 6 indices were unchanged or improved Core Suburban Quality Coverage Index no change no change Dropped Call Index* no change increased 0.3% Blocked Call Index* improved 0.4% improved 0.9% *statistically significant