Mts leads mobile coverage in Serbia; Telenor best for 3G
Telekom Srbija’s mobile unit Mts had 2,895 mobile base station sites in use at the end of 2021, ahead of A1 Srbija with 2,311 and Telenor Srbija with 2,279, according to a report by the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (Ratel). Mts mobile coverage
Telekom Srbija had the most GSM stations (2,268), ahead of A1 Srbija (2,220) and Telenor Srbija (2,217), and also led by number of UMTS stations (2,833), followed by A1 Srbija (2,297) and Telenor Srbija (2,273). The incumbent was also the leader in LTE stations (2,822), while A1 Srbija was in second place for 4G (2,305) and Telenor Serbia third (2,220).
Telekom Srbija dominated Wi-Fi coverage, too, with 1,268 hotspots, followed by Telenor with fifteen, while A1 has none.
Telekom Srbija came out on top both for GSM coverage (91.89% territory and 99.26% population) and LTE coverage (84.51% territory and 98.19% population), while Telenor Serbia was best for UMTS coverage (88.72% territory and 98.99% of the population).
Serbia Key Findings via OpenSignal Mts mobile coverage
5G’s arrival in Serbia will transform the mobile network experience and likely alter the competitive positions of each operator. However, the important upcoming auction is now expected in the middle of 2022, or perhaps later, according to the COO of regulator RATEL.
All three operators are preparing for 5G. While Telenor has deployed its first 5G base station, Telkom Srbija — mts’ parent company — has secured a loan from the European Investment Bank for 5G rollout and A1 has announced Nokia as a 5G supplier for its Serbian operations.
A1 wins the Download Speed Experience award
With a score of 37.1 Mbps, our A1 users experienced the fastest average download speeds. MTS and Telenor users saw slower speeds of 29.5 Mbps and 30.3 Mbps, respectively, which are statistically tied. A1’s victory is a result of pulling ahead of rival Telenor, which jointly won this award in the last Opensignal report alongside A1 (previously called Vip).
Telenor retains the 4G Coverage Experience award, but A1 holds 4G Availability
4G Coverage Experience quantifies the locations where Opensignal users have seen 4G services. On a 1-10 scale, Telenor again wins with a score of 7.7 ahead of mts with 7.3 and A1’s score of 7.2. However, when we consider the proportion of time users were able to connect to 4G or better networks — 4G Availability — A1 won comfortably with 89.6% ahead of second place mts with 84.4%.
With a score of 72.9, A1 wins Video Experience outright
Video Experience quantities the quality of mobile video streaming measured by real users. A1’s score rates as Very Good (65<75) as do the scores of mts (71.3) and Telenor (70), but it is A1 that converts its previous joint win in this award category into a sole win.
mts and A1 again share the mobile gaming spoils
In Games Experience, two operators jointly win the award: mts with a score of 77.2, on a 100-point scale, and A1 with a score of 76.1. Both the winners rank as Good (75<85) in multiplayer mobile gaming meaning that gameplay is generally controllable and the user receives immediate feedback between their actions and the outcomes in the game. Telenor’s score of 62.3 rests in the Poor category (40<65) where most users deemed this level of experience to be unacceptable. Mts mobile coverage
