The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA or the Authority) hereby gives notice of publication of the quarterly Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring Test Report pertaining to services provided by Vodacom, MTN and Cell C’s networks in the Limpopo province. The purpose of the report is to assess the standard and quality of services offered by the three major mobile operators, and also to promote redress in the public interest where the services do not meet the requisite standard. The monitoring was conducted in Mokopane, Mutale, Polokwane, Sekhukhune and Thohoyandou.
The Authority conducted the QoS monitoring through drive-testing using the TEMS investigation tool. The focus of the drive-test was on network performance in terms of accessibility and retention of voice calls. The metric used to measure the above were Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR) and Drop Call Rate (DCR).
The results show that MTN met the accessibility target in all areas under test (Thohoyandou, Mutale, Sekhukhune and Mokopane), but failed the Retainability test in Sekhukhune. Cell-C failed accessibility test in Thohoyandou, Mutale and Mokopane as well as the retainability test in Thohoyandou, Mutale, Sekhukhune and Mokopane. Vodacom met the accessibility target in all areas where the measurements were performed but failed retainability in Thohoyandou, Mutale and Sekhukhune.
Based on the average results, the Retainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which are expressed as Average Drop Call Rate (ADCR), Cell-C did not meet the target. In terms of Accessibility KPIs which are expressed as Average Call Set-up Success Rate (ACSSR), Cell-C and Vodacom did not met the target.
Prior to the publication of this report, ICASA afforded the operators an opportunity to comment on the areas of concern highlighted by the report and requested them to provide the cause and remedial plans. Both Vodacom and Cell C have taken to address areas of concern and ICASA continues to engage with the licensees for better quality of service. MTN did not submit any further comments.
The Authority continues to improve its reports and encourages all consumers to refer their complaints to the Authority should they be dissatisfied with how operators have dealt with network and service deficiencies. This will enable the Authority to cross-check data provided by the operators with data provided by consumers.
Enquiries:
Paseka Maleka
Tel: 011 566 3455
Cell: 079 509 0702
E-mail: pmaleka@icasa.org.za
