LTE services in Bahrain are performing 23 per cent faster in 2016 compared to 2014, said the deputy general director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

TRA has released three major reports of an independent audit regarding mobile network coverage, mobile quality of service and mobile billing to the general public.

“These latest reports focus on many Mobile services, with an emphasis on mobile services related to data,” said Sheikh Nasser bin Mohammed Al Khalifa.

“We advise consumers to go through these reports to benefit from knowing which operators offer services that best suits their individual needs. The mobile audit reports provide valuable quantitative and qualitative comparable results of the performance of mobile operators.”

TRA’s technical & operations director Mohammed Alnoaimi said: “From the audit results, it is clear that mobile operators have improved their networks to cater for ever-increasing consumer demands. The results when compared to some countries, shows that Bahrain is taking the lead, surpassing mobile quality of service benchmarks as demonstrated in the reports.”

The objective of the mobile network coverage audit is to measure outdoor coverage and ensure that mobile operators comply with the license coverage’s conditions (99 per cent of the Kingdom’s population).The coverage Audit shows that all operators cover 100 per cent of the population with 3G and 4G technologies.

The mobile QOS reports’ purpose is to measure the operator’s performance in providing various services, such as voice and data mobile services. TRA aimed at measuring and evaluating the quality level offered by mobile operators from an end user perspective for mobile services such as voice calls, short messaging services, mobile web browsing, data transfer, video streaming and social networking efficiency.

The three mobile networks offer an excellent level of service with an average setup and an average call 2-minute duration rate of 98.6 per cent compared to 95 per cent in 2014 across the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the average speed of mobile 4G technology improved in HTTP Upload/Download from 30 MBPS in 2014 to 36MBPS respectively in 2016.

In terms of both voice quality, SMS and Data, Bahrain’s position is outperforming other countries, maintaining its higher ranking which is measured on the basis that the aforementioned countries perform the same tests.

The aim of the billing audit is to evaluate from end the user’s experience the accuracy of mobile operator billing systems, enabling consumers to choose the most suitable services. This report encompasses national calls, national SMS’s and data services. – TradeArabia News Service