Although data applications are continuously gaining in importance, mobile phone calls are still a core application of mobile communications. Therefore, they account for 27 percent of our rating.

In all tested scenarios, there is an intense duel here ­between Magenta and A1. In the metropolitan walk tests, A1 not only im­proved significantly over its results from the previous year, but also outperformed its com­petitor Magenta. In addition, the competitors also clearly improved on their results from the previous year in small towns – where Magenta in particular stands out with top performance – as well as on connecting roads. 

The fact that the compliance rates here are only slightly ­behind the larger and smaller ­cities is good news for drivers on Austrian roads. However, improvements are also evident in the results of Drei – especially in the large cities and smaller towns, the ­Hutchison brand was able to narrow the distance to the performance of Magenta and A1.

Magenta took the category victory with particularly short call set-up times and in the ­drive tests also with higher voice ­quality. The MultiRAB connectivity is also pleasingly high, proving that data communication remains possible in the background even during ongoing phone calls.

Our test results in Austria ­give rail passengers another reason to be happy: In the trains, all three providers have improved significantly compared to the previous year - even if they still do not quite reach the dream results from Switzerland.

Apps, messaging, streaming and web surfing are the focus for smartphone users. The share of the data discipline was thus in­creased to 48 percent of the overall score.

The data measurements also show a similar picture: Magenta and A1 are engaged in a duel at a high level. In the large city and small town drive tests, Magenta is ahead by a narrow gap, on the connecting roads A1 performs slightly better, and in the walk tests in larger cities, both are on a par. Hutchison Three essentially maintains its previous year‘s level in the data discipline.

The good results reflect the high success rates in the ­various data tests, which are well above 99 percent in the large and small cities as well as on the connecting roads. The data rates then reveal a certain divide between urban and rural regions, which is particularly pronounced for Hutchison Drei. 

In the YouTube tests, again, all three candidates perform well in large cities, small towns as well as on the connecting roads. In our new eGaming test case, which primarily rewards short latency times, Magenta and A1 perform well, while Drei falls a little behind here.

Overall, the results in the ­also newly added category “Conversational App“, which maps IP-based voice transmissions as used in Whatsapp and the like, are ­also decent. Here, Magenta delivers the best results in the drive tests in large cities and small towns, while A1 is ahead in the big-city walk tests and on connecting roads. Although Drei does not come out on the very top in this discipline, this provider‘s results hold up well. 

This year, too, Magenta and A1 owe their good performance in the data discipline to the consistent expansion of 4CA (4 Carrier ­Aggregation – the combina­tion of up to four frequency bands) in their LTE networks, and this increasingly in conjunction with 5G (“5G NR + 4CA“, see also box below). 

Data connectivity on railways

In the test results for mobile internet use in Austrian trains, the trend points slightly upwards compared to the pre­vious year, at least for ­Magenta and A1. Drei remains at its performance level of the pre­vious year in this scenario as well.
The Austrian providers can thus maintain their lead over their German counterparts - who have also improved slightly in the train category this year. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in this category.

In Austria, we also look separately at how the three tested providers perform in terms of 5G – although the new mobile communications standard is already a regular part of our data assessment, and the samples with 5G or 5G-DSS examined here are therefore included there as well.

The results of the seven-second download tests from the data discipline presented here are an exemplary case – however, the coverage shares with 5G and 5G-DSS that can be read here in ­particular are in comparable orders of magnitude in the other data tests too. They prove that all three Austrian network operators have continued to make good progress in their ongoing 5G rollouts. However, the percentages in cities are still significantly higher than on connecting roads. In railways, A1 achieves a ­significantly higher 5G share than its two competitors.

As in the previous year, we only see a ­notable share of the spectrum-sharing technology 5G-DSS in the network of Magenta. However, the results also highlight that the dynamic sharing of ­frequency bandwidths between 4G and 5G happens at the expense of data rates. Where 5G has already been rolled out in the Alpine Republic, however, it delivers very respectable data throughputs overall.

The crowdsourcing results reflect the actual customer experience. Despite known rankings, there are interesting successes in individual categories here.

The crowdsourcing analyses show the ranking already known from the drive and walk tests: Magenta is once again at the top, followed by A1 in second place at a gap of four points and then Drei in third place with a three-point gap to A1.
Magenta is clearly ahead in the coverage quality and time on broadband (the proportion of time with broadband coverage). In these ratings, Drei also ranks ahead of A1. In terms of coverage reach, A1 is again in the lead. 

The passively determined data rates of all three providers in the basic internet ­category are close together. A1 shines in the more demanding categories HD video and UHD video as well as in the active throughput measurements. In the passive measurements, Drei follows in second place, and in gaming latencies the ­Hutchison brand takes the lead ahead of A1 and Magenta. The analysis of HD voice connections again shows the ­familiar ranking. In transaction success and thus stability, Magenta is clearly ahead of A1 and Drei.