The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has completed the 2011 mobile networks benchmarking survey for services provided by operators in the UAE. This survey is in line with the TRA’s commitment to ensure the best quality of services provided; in addition to ensuring the operators’ adherence to the terms and conditions of licenses issued to them.

This annual survey measures the level of services offered in order to ensure that each operator provides the required level of services and performance that will guarantee the satisfaction of users all over the UAE, which is considered one of the main priorities of the TRA.

Commenting on the completion of the survey, H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim said: “We are keen to perform this survey annually; it is carried out by a highly skilled workforce in order to reach a result that truly reflects the status of mobile networks and services provided. This type of survey gives us results which we use to assess the current situation of networks, determine the shortcomings, and address them in way that delivers the highest levels of service quality.”

“We take these surveys seriously because they are the main elements that guarantee improving the quality of services in the UAE, helping us to achieve one of our strategic goals reflected in reaching a leading status in this sector regionally and globally. We do not consider good results of the survey as the end of our endeavor, on the contrary, we see in them a motive for us to work harder to maintain the level we have reached, and strive to go to higher levels and provide world-class telecommunications services for our citizens and residents in the UAE.”

The benchmarking programme was carried out through driving tests for more than 11,000 kilometers across the UAE, and making more than 32,000 voice test calls attempts. The results were recorded and the process of discussing the results with operators in the UAE telecommunications sector is underway. The TRA will later publish the result after discussing them with the operators, as part of the transparency policy it adopts with regard to the telecommunications market in the UAE.

Notably, to ensure that the testing provides a fair comparison of the service provided by the mobile networks, the TRA has employed state-of-the-art test equipment that is used in most organizations and developed countries for such purposes. The equipment measures key performance indicators (KPI) that directly relate to the end-user experience through simulating an actual telecommunication environment in several conditions and several areas, where network coverage, dropped calls, and the clarity of calls are measured.