New Benchmarking Report puts Telstra ahead in almost every category

A report benchmarking the mobile networks in Australia has rated Telstra as the best performer ahead of Optus and Vodafone.

The CommsDay and P3 Communications 2015 Mobile Benchmark measures smartphone voice and data performance based on weeks of testing around Australia.

Test metrics include:

• voice call quality
• success rates
• file upload and download speeds
• website access
• SD/HD mobile video performance.

Telstra had the best score in almost all categories.

"It's consistently excellent performance for voice and data - both in major metro areas and more regional locations - kept it clearly on top of the scoreboard," read the report.

Telstra was rated the best mobile network in last year's report but also improved its performance by 7% over the 12-month period.

"While its rivals did a lot of work to close the gap, Telstra's 7 per cent score improvement was also impressive given how well it did in 2014," said the report.

Commenting on the result, a Telstra spokesperson said that while gratifying to win, the P3 survey only tells half the story" as it is limited to outdoor drive testing around the major cities with very limited regional or rural areas" included.

If the P3 Mobile Benchmark survey were extended to cover more of regional Australia and metro indoor usage it would show the true extent of our lead is far greater than what this survey alone suggests, said the spokesperson.

According to the spokesperson, if P3 drove from Adelaide to Perth they would have discovered that Telstra covers around a thousand kilometres of highway between the two cities not covered by any other carrier.

Meanwhile Optus came in second with a good result in most areas. It drove its comparable score up by around 27 per cent, reflecting better performance particularly with its data performance on the highways.

Vodafone put in a strong third-place showing, with huge improvements in terms of stability. It did particularly well in metropolitan testing, where the company has concentrated its network investments resulting in high-end speeds that were some of the fastest under test, read the report.  Vodafone improved its comparable score by almost 40 per cent due to big gains in most categories.