Quality of Experience vital to future broadband success

Global Fibre Development Index Analysis 2020 – by Omdia OMDIA’s Michael Philpott recently announced a new Global Fibre Development Index. This index tracks and benchmarks over 80 countries around 5 key metrics: fibre to the home, fibre to the business, fibre to the cell site, fibre backhaul and broadband quality of service (QoS). 

We are glad to see at the top of Cluster 2 some European countries that we are currently monitoring, or will soon cover, including the biggest operators’ FTTH performance and quality of experience. Some major European countries are still lagging behind due to a predominance of copper based technologies (VDSL, G.Fast) and/or cable networks (DOCSIS 3.0 / 3.1).

Figure 1: Fiber Development Index Ranking, 2019. Source: OMDIA

Fibre investment is instrumental to provide an optimized and future-proof quality of experience (QoE), essential for the development of digital services. Now, more than ever, COVID-19 has raised broadband QoE to a new level of importance. 

As explained in one of our latest articles, Internet users are increasingly demanding. However, providing the right level of network performance to the end-user goes together with much more than headline download speed, and other network and service KPIs should be carefully monitored, including streaming, cloud storage, web browsing and gaming experience. 

If only headline speed is considered, it would seem that all broadband technologies other than ADSL would be capable of meeting the minimum criteria for most challenging services, particularly if used simultaneously within a household, include high definition video streaming, new demanding gaming options and cloud usage. However, as shown in the following figure, when other basic performance indicators are considered, MedUX data suggests that FTTH services would be better positioned to meet certain demanding users’ requirements.

Figure 2: Fibre networks provide a truly high-end experience. Source: OMDIA, MedUX

If you are interested in knowing more, please take a look at our first MedUX research about fixed residential broadband in Europe (1H 2019) based on a comprehensive analysis and intensive in-home performance measurement in Europe. 

Broadband quality of experience has always been relevant for consumers, but now its importance has been reinforced. Omdia’s Global Fibre Development Index Analysis 2020 also explains that “high-speed broadband has been proven to drive not just consumer satisfaction but national GDP (Gross Domestic Product), with a growth in GDP of 0.25% to 1.5% for every 10% increase in household broadband penetration and a further 0.3% increase for every doubling of speed.” 

Nowadays, there are several wired technologies that allow us to currently have ultra-fast and very high-speed Internet access at residential premises, with reliable speeds and much higher than 300 Mbps. In our monographic series about the evolution of fibre-based telecommunication technologies – FTTH (Fibre-to-the Home) and Cable (DOCSIS), we analyse fibre-based networks and conclude that service stability, reliability and capabilities, such as very high speed and ultra-low latency, are the name of the game when it comes to improved customer experience and differentiation. 

FTTH is a core element for an optimum network quality of experience. As stated in Omdia’s Global Fibre Development Index Analysis 2020, it is also important “to consider network/service variance as well as headline metrics so that future application reliability requirements can also be met.” Furthermore, OMDIA says that “with the increase in broadband speeds across all service tiers, consumers are becoming gradually insensitive to pure bandwidth improvement. To differentiate service offerings, therefore, service providers have shifted their service and marketing focus onto the overall customer experience.” 

At MedUX, we continue to work hard to improve network performance, monitor quality of experience and deliver innovative solutions to support the telecommunications industry to better understand their clients and those of their competitors. MedUX solutions offer now, and as the networks evolve, an efficient and cost-effective alternative to industry players. 

For further details about the technologies that better meet current users’ residential broadband requirements, customers’ needs and how MedUX can help with all these challenges to provide the best Quality of Experience you can take a look to our latest Blog articles. 

Stay tuned to our next posts and insights and get in touch with us at hello@medux.com if you need further information. Our team will be glad to discuss our new features to improve Customer Experience in this innovative and hyper-connected era. Find out how we do help operators globally to deliver on new technology promises while testing and having visibility into services from the user perspective.  

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