Vodafone hits back at Telecom with its own speed tests

Vodafone has hit back at Telecom's "Albert Park" series of ads that claimed XT was the fastest mobile network.

Telecom said its ad - which ran in August and showed two Samsung Galaxy S II handsets side-by-side, one on XT, one Vodafone 3G - reflected testing it commissioned from independent company TrueNet.

This afternoon, Vodafone showed NBR testing it had commissioned from TrueNet rival Epitiro, an independent, UK-based company that holds a broadband testing contract with the Commerce Commission.

The testing, carried out around the Auckland and Wellington CBDs, showed Vodafone's mobile network was the fastest overall.

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Epitiro found average download speeds of: 

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One qualifier: Epitiro's testing notes (attached at the end of this article), Epitiro states "Measurements recorded from a GPRS bearer [that is, Vodafone's slower 2G network, which serves as a fall-back] are excluded."

Vodafone also topped the average upload speed benchmarks:

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The testing was carried out during September. Vodafone NZ chief executive Russell Stanners told NBR his company had held off announcing the results because of the World Cup.

Uh-oh ...
The results did not all go Vodafone's way.

In Epitiro's test of network latency (or "lag" - millisecond delays that can affect experience during web browsing or other back-and-fourth data connectivity), Vodafone came in behind its rivals (time in milliseconds; a lower score is better):

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Mr Stanners said some fine tuning was needed in that area.

Similarly, Epitiro's average web page download test, Vodafone was a snick behind its rivals (results in seconds, lower is better):

• 2degrees: 0.9s
• Telecom 1.0s
• Vodafone 1.2s
• Average: 1.0s

Mr Stanners noted his company had upgraded cellsites around the Auckland and Wellington CBDs to support HSPA+, a 3G technology that supports a theoretical maximum download speed limit of 43Mbit/s (currently there is only one phone on the block that extends even to 21Mbit/s HSPA+ support - the Android-based Samsung Galaxy SII - sported by Mr Stanners, NBR noted. Vodafone will release a USB model - demo'd today - with 43Mbit/s next month. A Vodafone rep said he had hit speeds of up to 18Mbit/s using the new USB stick).

Additionally, Vodafone's network partner, Chorus, had now upgraded 90% of Vodafone's cellsites with fibre links (faster than microwave links used on the remaining 10% of the company's cellsites, which will remain in remote areas). The upgrade was completed in September.

Hmn ...
So how did Mr Stanners explain Telecom topping TrueNet's average download speed test, and coming out ahead during its rival's Albert Park filming?

There was a gremlin in the system around Albert Park, which was identified and fixed, the Vodafone CEO said.

Telecom withdrew its Albert Park ad after 30 days. The Commerce Commerce confirmed to NBR that it had received a complaint. Telecom told NBR the ad had only been scheduled to screen for a month.

Epitiro's testing for Vodafone was carried out over five days between September 2 and 7. Testing was carried out between 9am and 8pm, with no testing on September 6 (a Sunday).  In excess of 133,000 measurements were recorded, with all three operators tested simultaneously.

Epitiro's methodology notes say vehicles used in the testing were fitted with Samsung Galaxy S II handsets (the same model used in Telecom's Albert Park ad) capable of download speeds of up to 21Mbit/s and upload spees of up to 5.6Mbit/s. The S IIs were running Epitiro's ipQ software.

Auckland testing was carried out around the CBD, as well as areas as far as Ponsonby to the west, Parnell to the east and Eden Terrance to the south.

Wellington testing covered the CBD in addition to areas as far as Thorndon to the north and Newtown to the south.

As every, people will continue to judge their network from their own - often jaundiced - experience.

Your correspondant would be dancing in the streets to get an average download speed of 3.4Mbit/s from any operator. But to date, that has not been his experience.

RAW DATA: Epitiro's report (PDF)