Test and Measurement: Network reliability, quality trump speed for consumers, Opensignal says

Opensignal this week debuted an assessment of the role of network reliability in customers’ choice of a mobile carrier, compared to other metrics including speeds.

An Opensignal US household survey of more than 55,000 people showed that while cost was the most important consideration for most people (21% of respondents), reliability came in second, with 19% of respondents saying that it was the most important factor for them. Network quality came in third at 18%, and faster upload and download speeds were the most important factor for just 7% of survey participants.

In conjunction with that survey, Opensignal is launching a new “reliability experience” metric that the company says is more user-centric than network operators’ own assessments of reliability. “A network operator is likely to consider their network “reliable” if there is zero downtime, but an end-user wouldn’t find it reliable if they can’t send an email, exchange instant messages, use their device for navigation or browse simple websites,” the company said in a blog post.

The reliability metric “measures to what extent users stay consistently connected to their mobile network and whether they can continue to do typical tasks like email, watching videos, and using navigation apps while connected.”

On a global basis, the company scored Denmark has having the highest reliability experience for users, followed by Japan and South Korea. The United States was ranked 12th and had the highest ranking for the Americas region.

Read more about Opensignal’s Reliability Experience metric here.

In other test news:

–Rohde & Schwarz is touting its successful verification of Global Certification Forum Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) narrowband IoT test cases, supported by its R&S CMW500 radio communications tester. Rohde said that this support was key for GCF to be able to kick off the work item in their device certification program.

Looking ahead to Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Rohde & Schwarz also said this week that it will be highlighting 5G-supported augmented reality in the form of “animated avatar” calls as illustrative of XR-related 5G use cases and broader metaverse integration, as well as Wi-Fi 7 multi-channel single-box test solutions for both research and development and production environments.

–Anritsu, meanwhile, plans to focus on a variety of demonstrations at MWC Barcelona that include an AI-powered RF sensing tool, an advanced digital twin simulation environment for cellular vehicle-to-everything, NTN device measurements and field-to-lab simulation test. 

In terms of the use of AI in radio frequency sensing, Anritsu has partnered with DeepSig to integrate the company’s wireless signal detection and classification software, which leverages AI, into Anritsu’s MS2090A Field Master Pro Spectrum Analyzer. “Employing a deep learning, data-driven approach allows Anritsu to rapidly incorporate new radio signal models into their capabilities using DeepSig’s ML training tools,” the test company explained. “RF signals of interest from diverse new sources like drones and IOT devices can be learned quickly and accurately in days, rather than months, to meet fast changing customer requirements. These advanced technologies also form the foundation for AI-native RF sensing for 6G.”

–Fairview Microwave has launched a new line of trihedral corner reflectors for radar and antenna testing, which support a wide operating frequency range of 10 to 100 GHz and are meant to optimize signal reflections and measurement accuracy.