Smart scores ‘5-0’ over competition in NTC test

The latest network quality tests conducted by the National Telecommunications Commission has confirmed the network superiority of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) over its competition, according to the company spokesperson. More details after the jump.

“This time the score is ‘5-0’,” said Smart public affairs head Ramon R. Isberto. “Smart outperformed the competition in all five parameters of the 3rd Quarter Quality of Service QoS) Benchmarking tests.”

Representatives from the NTC made over 2,189 test calls while inside a moving vehicle to measure the performance of the two telcos, which had both recently modernized their respective networks in Metro Manila.

Smart had a clear edge in the Blocked Calls or Grade of Service (GoS) parameter, with only 2.54 percent of calls made on the Smart network not connecting successfully. Globe had more blocked calls, registering 2.75 percent in the said parameter.

Globe also had more dropped calls, with 2.75 percent of incoming calls made on the Globe network terminated involuntarily. In contrast, Smart had a Drop Call Rate (DCR) of only 2.15 percent – against the minimum 2 percent DCR standard.

Smart still dominated in terms of Average Receive Signal Level, registering -61.14 dBm against Globe’s -69.21 dBm. This means Smart had stronger signal strength while the voice calls were ongoing.

Smart was also ahead in the Average Signal Quality category. Smart scored 0.65 while Globe scored 1.03, against the minimum acceptable range of from 0 to 4, or the closer to 0, the better. This shows that Smart had better voice quality transmission than Globe.

Smart also outshone the competition in terms of Call Set Up Time, or the time it takes for a network to activate the called party. Smart met quality standards with a score of 11.23 seconds, versus Globe’s 11.56 seconds. The acceptable industry standard is below 14 seconds.

“What these numbers mean is that Smart subscribers enjoy better-quality service,” Isberto said.  “We are able to deliver superior voice, text, and data services even though we have the largest subscriber base.”

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