Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority has recently released the results of a survey on the quality of internet services in the country during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 20-Sept. 21).
The report investigates the quality of internet services offered by internet service providers (ISPs) based on several parameters, including speed, jitter, packet loss ratio (PLR) and round-trip time (RTT). The data have been harvested from over 6,700 ICT stations around the country.
Experts believe that after years of efforts developing ICT infrastructure and expanding internet access in Iran, the quality of services is not as good as expected.
In terms of speed, a major share of internet subscribers (44%) have access to a connection speed between 10,240-20,480 kilobits per second. In addition, the speed for 30% of users is between 256-2,048 Kbps.
The report shows that only 2% of internet subscribers in Iran have a connection speed of over 3,000 Kbps. Around 11% of users work with internet speed between 20,480-30,000 Kbps, 11% with 10,240-20,480 Kbps, and 2% below 256 Kbps.
Jitter
Jitter is the variation in the time between data packets arriving, caused by network congestion, or route changes. In other words, it is the consistency of the server in conducting download and upload.
The average value of the jitter parameter for all ISPs in the country was 8 milliseconds for TD-LTE and 1.69 ms for ADSL connections. The parameter for 4G and 3G internet connection was respectively 8.03 ms and 34.76 ms.
Among the landline internet operator companies, HighWeb recorded the highest jitter equal to 3.26 ms and Shatel bottomed the list with 0.95 ms.
The parameter is classed based on the operations of major internet operators. The jitter value of 3G internet offered by Irancell was 47.6 ms. In the 3G category, RighTel recorded 31.08 ms followed by the Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran with 24.69 ms.
For 4G connection, RighTel recorded the higher jitter, equal to 12.88 ms, followed by Irancell with 5.76 ms and MCI with 5.43 ms.
For TD-LTE connection offered by Mobinnet operator, jitter was 8.92 ms. Irancell’s value reached 7.22 ms.
PLR
Packet loss ratio is the other parameter that represents the ratio of the number of lost packets to the total number of sent packets.
The parameter recorded an average of 0.41% for TD-LTE connection and 0.51% for ADSL. PLR for 4G and 3G connections was 0.91% and 1.11% respectively.
The highest PLR value was for landline operator Datak equal to 2.74% and Shatel was ranked lowest with 0.24%.
The report says that the major internet operator RighTel has recorded 1.68% for 3G connection PLR, followed by Irancell with 1.22% and MCI with 0.9%.
In addition, for 4G connection, RighTel again has the highest PLR value, equal to 3.32%. with a wide distance, Irancell stands with 0.48% and MCI with 0.3%.
The parameter for TD-LTE connection was 0.46% for Irancell and 0.4% for Mobinnet operators.
RTT
Round-trip time is the duration in milliseconds it takes for a network request to go from a starting point to a destination and back again to the starting point.
RTT is an important metric in determining the health of a connection on a local network or the larger internet and is commonly utilized by network administrators to diagnose the speed and reliability of network connections.
Its average value was 117.23 ms for TD-LTE connection in the country. The parameter was 97.01 ms for ADSL, 115.42 ms for 4G and 118.34 ms for 3G connection.
The highest RTT value was for landline operator Datak equal to 116.09 ms while Shatel had the lowest value with 88.02 ms.
For 3G internet connection, the parameter recorded 202.18 ms by MCI, 192.98 ms by Irancell and 192.54 by RighTel.
RTT parameter in 4G connection was 135.03 ms for RighTel, 115.03 ms for Irancell and 111.3 ms for MCI.
The parameter was 121.8 ms for Irancell’s TD-LTE connection and 113.41 ms for Mobinnet.
QoE parameters
The CRA’s report dedicates a part to Quality of Experience (QoE) of different internet connections in the country.
QoE is a measure of the delight or annoyance of a customer's experiences with a service, like the internet. QoE focuses on the entire service experience; it is a holistic concept, similar to the field of user experience, but with its roots in telecommunications.
FTP Download Throughput, web throughput and DNS Response time are QoE parameters reviewed by the report.
The data show that the H1 average of FTP Download Throughput for TD-LTE connection has been 5.51 megabits per second (Mb/s). In addition, the parameter has been 3.08 Mb/s for ADSL, 5.83 Mb/s for 4G and 3.5 Mb/s for 3G connection.
The highest FTP Download Throughput value was for landline operator Shatel equal to 4.81 Mb/s while Sabanet had the lowest value with 1.32 Mb/s.
In 3G connection class, FTP Download Throughput was 3.26 Mb/s for RighTel, 3.21 Mb/s for MCI and 2.87 Mb/s for Irancell.
In the 4G connection class, the parameter was highest for Irancell, equal to 5.86 Mb/s, followed by 5.24 Mb/s for MCI and 3.55 Mb/s for RighTel.
The parameter in the TD-LTE connection class was 5.53 Mb/s for Irancell and 4.12 Mb/s for Mobinnet.
On average, web throughput was 0.46 Mb/s for TD-LTE and ADSL, 0.45 Mb/s for 4G and 0.33 Mb/s for 3G connection.
The highest web throughput value was for Shatel equal to 0.55 Mb/s while Fanava had the lowest value with 0.38 Mb/s.
In the 3G connection class, web throughput was 0.34 Mb/s for Irancell, 0.31 Mb/s for MCI and 0.3 Mb/s for RighTel.
In the 4G connection class, the parameter was highest for RighTel, equal to 0.48 Mb/s, followed by 0.46 Mb/s for MCI and 0.35 Mb/s for RighTel.
The parameter in the TD-LTE connection class was 0.47 Mb/s for Irancell and 0.45 Mb/s for Mobinnet.
Domain name system (DNS) response time’s average value was 133.99 ms for TD-LTE connections and 113.48 ms for ADSL. The parameter for 4G and 3G connections was 132.68 ms and 148.72 ms respectively.
The highest DNS response time value was for landline operator Datak equal to 151.05 ms while Shatel had the lowest value with 101.58 ms.
In 3G connection class, DNS Response time was 171.12 ms for RighTel, 145.76 ms for Irancell and 140.03 ms for MCI.
In the 4G connection class, the parameter was highest for RighTel, equal to 161.26 ms, followed by 128.53 ms for Irancell and 127.56 ms for MCI.
The parameter in the TD-LTE connection class was 136.85 ms for Mobinnet and 131.04 ms for Irancell.
Users
CRA reports that the number of mobile internet subscribers reaches 76.5 million in the first half of the current Iranian year. The number was 68.9 million at the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 20).
Iran’s top mobile operator had the largest share with 37.8 million users. It was followed by Irancell with 35.4 million and RighTel with 3.2 million internet subscribers.
According to the authority, the penetration rate of mobile internet hit 91.07%, which was 83.05% last year.
The number of landline internet subscribers reached 9.47 million by the end of the period, including xDSL with 7.7 million subscribers, FTTX with 118,000, WiFi with 313,000 and TD-LTE with 1.2 million subscribers.
The number shows a slight increase compared to 9.09 million users at the end of last Iranian year (March 20), but a rather sharp decrease compared to a year before. The number of landline internet users was 10.38 million in 2018-19.
The penetration rate of landline internet reached 11.28% on Sept. 21, which peaked in 2018-19 at 12.65%.
