The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has recently released a study of what it calls NTC Cellular Mobile Telephone System (CMTS) standard which caused quite a stir between the two main mobile phone operators in the country.
The interpretation of the data which ensued was confusing to ordinary consumers.Smart was quick to claim that their system is more superior as reflected by the results. GLOBE TELECOM says otherwise.....
It is a network drive tests using prepaid SIMs of both telcos with a sample size of over 3,000 test calls.
--16 cities in Metro Manila,
---conducted 2Q of 2012
For Drop Call Rate, the NTC standard is 2%, and test results showed both telcos performed within the standard with Globe registering 1.6% at parity with Smart’s 1.5%. Clearly, the results belie the claims made by Smart in its multi-million negative advertising campaigns pointing out drop calls and difficulty in making calls within the Globe legacy network.
In terms of Call Set Up Time, both telcos performed within the acceptable standard of below 14 seconds. The Globe legacy network performed at parity with 11.9 seconds versus the Smart upgraded network at 11.74 seconds. This is a measure of how fast domestic calls get connected from one number to the other.
Other metrics in the study included Average Signal Quality with a minimum acceptable range of 0-4, the closer to 0, the better. The telcos performed at parity, both performing above 0.50. The final metric is the Average Receive Signal Level with a minimum acceptable range of -85 dBm. Both telcos did not make it to the standard.
In the most important benchmark , Globe Telecom’s legacy network outperformed its competition who has widely announced its network upgrade completion. With the Grade of Service or CSFR standard set by the NTC at 4%, Globe recorded a nearly identical 4.45% while Smart registered a distant 9.95% (closer to the industry standard is better). This means that call success rates are higher using the Globe legacy network at 95.55%. For consumers, the experience is that it is easier to call using the Globe legacy network with more calls getting connected even at first try. NTC has an applied industry standard consisting of Grade of Service or Call Setup Failure Rate (CSFR)
”It is now clear who is telling the truth and really giving good service to the public even with just our legacy network. Competition has claimed they are done with their upgrade and there’s no denying the official results from NTC quality tests show their upgraded network performs even below NTC standards. As soon as we fully fire up our brand new network, our subscribers and the entire nation will enjoy a whole new mobile experience that is once again pioneered by Globe Telecom.”---- Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba earlier called the attention of both Globe Telecom and Smart Communications on what he referred to as increasing complaints from customers about drop calls and undelivered text messages, asking both firms to explain the causes for the disruptions and to give a timetable for completion of their network modernization programs
It is no secret that Globe is undergoing a massive upgrade of the system worth $700M.While there are legitimate complaints,Globe subscribers are patiently waiting.I doubt if this NTC report is to affect the current subscriber base.Simply put,subscribers are waiting and new subscribers keep adding coz they know something BIG is coming. :)
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The interpretation of the data which ensued was confusing to ordinary consumers.Smart was quick to claim that their system is more superior as reflected by the results. GLOBE TELECOM says otherwise.....
SO WHAT IS THIS NTC benchmark study exactly?
It is a network drive tests using prepaid SIMs of both telcos with a sample size of over 3,000 test calls.
--16 cities in Metro Manila,
---conducted 2Q of 2012
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
In terms of Call Set Up Time, both telcos performed within the acceptable standard of below 14 seconds. The Globe legacy network performed at parity with 11.9 seconds versus the Smart upgraded network at 11.74 seconds. This is a measure of how fast domestic calls get connected from one number to the other.
In the most important benchmark , Globe Telecom’s legacy network outperformed its competition who has widely announced its network upgrade completion. With the Grade of Service or CSFR standard set by the NTC at 4%, Globe recorded a nearly identical 4.45% while Smart registered a distant 9.95% (closer to the industry standard is better). This means that call success rates are higher using the Globe legacy network at 95.55%. For consumers, the experience is that it is easier to call using the Globe legacy network with more calls getting connected even at first try. NTC has an applied industry standard consisting of Grade of Service or Call Setup Failure Rate (CSFR)
”It is now clear who is telling the truth and really giving good service to the public even with just our legacy network. Competition has claimed they are done with their upgrade and there’s no denying the official results from NTC quality tests show their upgraded network performs even below NTC standards. As soon as we fully fire up our brand new network, our subscribers and the entire nation will enjoy a whole new mobile experience that is once again pioneered by Globe Telecom.”---- Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba earlier called the attention of both Globe Telecom and Smart Communications on what he referred to as increasing complaints from customers about drop calls and undelivered text messages, asking both firms to explain the causes for the disruptions and to give a timetable for completion of their network modernization programs
It is no secret that Globe is undergoing a massive upgrade of the system worth $700M.While there are legitimate complaints,Globe subscribers are patiently waiting.I doubt if this NTC report is to affect the current subscriber base.Simply put,subscribers are waiting and new subscribers keep adding coz they know something BIG is coming. :)
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Hmmm.... if they really are good then I'll probably move to Globe next time. That's the beauty of competition, makes each network out-perform each other. :) Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteever since globe na ko di ko pa natry ang smart mostly ksi dito sa cavite ee globe ska mas mura haha
ReplyDeleteFrom being a postpaid Globe subscriber, I actually just moved to Smart because of postpaid stuff and offers. But I'm still glad na nagiimprove ang Globe. Let's see how Smart will answer this one. Just like Noel (the first commenter)said, it makes each network out-perform each other; hence, better service in the near future for both of 'em and happier subscribers. Haha! :)
ReplyDeletei use my Globe postpaid sim during my stay in the Philippines between November-December 2012, and i was way too disappointed with their service within QC area, i always experienced network busy,dropped calls, sms failed to be sent. I doubt this NTC result if they really did the test on busy places like Timog,QC and Pasay area
ReplyDelete