Robi trails rivals in July service quality test: BTRC

Robi Axiata performed below Grameenphone (GP) and Banglalink on several key mobile network quality indicators in July, according to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) first independently verified Quality of Service (QoS) report.
According to the BTRC report, Robi recorded the lowest 4G average download throughput, 2G call-setup success rate, 4G data-session retention, VoLTE call-setup success rate, combined voice-setup success rate and SMS completion rate among the three private operators.
The July assessment is significant as BTRC, for the first time, reconciled, reviewed and independently verified the QoS data submitted by operators. The assessment covered network performance at the national, district and upazila levels.
At the national level, Robi’s 2G call-setup success rate stood at 99.2877%, compared with 99.6323% for Grameenphone and 99.7270% for Banglalink. Its 4G average download throughput was 6.8477 Mbps, well below GP’s 8.2264 Mbps and Banglalink’s 8.6070 Mbps.
Robi also posted the highest 4G data-session non-retainability rate at 0.2462%, against 0.1423% for Grameenphone and 0.0911% for Banglalink. A lower rate indicates better performance.
Its VoLTE call-setup success rate was 99.6549%, compared with 99.7320% for Grameenphone and 99.9208% for Banglalink. For combined VoLTE and GSM calls, Robi recorded a 99.5964% voice-setup success rate, again the lowest among the three.
The gap was also visible in SMS performance. Robi’s SMS completion rate was 98.7495%, against 99.6211% for Grameenphone and 99.8086% for Banglalink.

Robi shows strengths too
The report, however, does not paint an entirely weak picture of Robi’s network.
It recorded the lowest 2G call-drop rate at 0.2405%, compared with 0.3298% for Grameenphone and 0.3566% for Banglalink. Robi also posted the highest 4G RRC success rate at 99.8695%.
Its VoLTE drop rate was 0.1348%, better than Grameenphone’s 0.3814% but higher than Banglalink’s 0.0732%. Robi also recorded the lowest abnormal release rate for combined VoLTE and GSM calls at 0.2115%.

Banglalink leads several indicators
Banglalink emerged as the strongest performer on several national indicators, including 4G download speed, 2G call-setup success, 4G session retention, VoLTE call setup and SMS completion.
It recorded the highest 4G download speed at 8.6070 Mbps and the highest SMS completion rate at 99.8086%. Its VoLTE call-setup success rate was 99.9208%, while its VoLTE abnormal release rate was the lowest at 0.0732%.
Banglalink also posted the highest CSFB success rate at 99.1856%. All 64 monitored national test points complied with the relevant KPIs, while all 538 district-level monitored points were compliant with the listed indicators.

Grameenphone mixed
Grameenphone delivered a mixed performance, with a 4G average download speed of 8.2264 Mbps and a 2G call-setup success rate of 99.6323%. Its 4G RRC success rate stood at 99.8345%.
However, its VoLTE abnormal release rate was the highest among the three private operators at 0.3814%, while its combined abnormal release rate of 0.3478% also exceeded those of Robi and Banglalink.
Despite the differences, all three private operators met BTRC’s national thresholds for the listed KPIs.

Teletalk weakest overall
State-owned Teletalk recorded the weakest overall performance, particularly in 4G at the district and upazila levels.
Although Teletalk declared a national 4G average download speed of 11.2 Mbps, higher than those of the three private operators, BTRC could not independently verify the figure because of incomplete raw/binary files. As a result, verified monitoring values for several key indicators could not be determined.