The tests benchmark T-Mobile against its competitors by measuring customer experiences that matter most to users during peak usage hours across 16 cities throughout the UK. When measured against its competitors, T-Mobile was found on aggregate to be fastest for internet upload and download speeds as well as for web browsing and for sending and receiving emails.
The time it takes to access the BBC homepage, for example, was found to be up to 25% faster on average using T-Mobile than its nearest competitor. Similarly, as the popularity of social networking sites continues to grow, these tests show that T-Mobile customers who upload photos to Facebook or videos to YouTube will benefit from the fastest overall upload speeds across the UK, with a 60% performance advantage over its nearest rival.
Emin Gurdenli, chief technology officer at T-Mobile UK, commented: “These independent tests clearly put T-Mobile’s Mobile Broadband network ahead of the pack. P3’s benchmarking reveals that our programme of continuous improvement and investment in network performance is delivering a richer experience for our fast-growing base of Mobile Broadband users. We have no intention of resting on our laurels; our regime of customer-centric testing is ongoing and this creates the framework for a continuous cycle of analysis and improvements to network performance.”
The popularity of T-Mobile’s Mobile Broadband service is underlined by a 35% rise in sales of data devices between Q2 and Q3 and an estimated market share of 22% in a segment that is growing overall by 11% a month. T-Mobile has anticipated the exponential increase in demand for mobile data services and has acted to ensure that as both the number of customers and usage increases, so too does the customer experience. Central to T-Mobile’s commitment to maintaining service excellence is the programme of consistent and independent quarterly testing to ensure customers will always experience the best in Mobile Broadband performance.
Gurdenli continued: “We recognise that performance is a key enabler for our customers to access the internet anywhere and at any time they chose. We’ve removed all complexity from the Mobile Broadband story by offering unlimited usage, flat rates and non-committal tariffs that allow customers to access the service as and when they need it. Now customers have the added assurance that T-Mobile is delivering on its commitment to provide a superior Mobile Broadband experience.”
This has been achieved by upgrading T-Mobile’s 3G network with new technology to accelerate both download and upload speeds. T-Mobile was the first operator to roll out HSUPA on a nationwide basis, providing customers across a wide geography with a fivefold increase in upload speeds. T-Mobile is also upgrading the underlying download capability of its HSDPA-enabled 3G network to 7.2Mbps both within the M25 and other major cities, providing realistic Mobile Broadband speeds of up to 4.5Mbps in those enabled areas.