Subscribe

ICASA corrects quality of service report

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 04 Jun 2014
ICASA's initial original report on quality of service in Worcester contained some corrupt retainability measurement data.
ICASA's initial original report on quality of service in Worcester contained some corrupt retainability measurement data.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has published a correction to its Western Cape quality of service report, which was released on 21 May.

In the initial reports, all three of the major operators' networks had shortcomings during ICASA's drive-by tests, but MTN fared the worst when it came to connecting calls when the combined results are looked at. Yet, MTN performed the best in ICASA's dropped call measures, while neither Cell C nor Vodacom met targets on an average basis.

ICASA has now corrected data for its testing in Worcester after the "original report inadvertently contained some corrupt retainability measurement data, which indicated an incorrect number of dropped calls".

The new figures show Cell C's dropped call rate worsened, while Vodacom's improved from 20.83% to 1.95%. MTN's dropped call rate was also better, at 0.68% from 1.12%.

Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman had noted the dropped call rate in Worcester was 10 times higher than recorded at the same site a day later and well outside the normal performance in that area. He said the operator would work on tracing the fault.

ICASA, which has been criticised for its method of driving and talking to test networks, apologises for any inconvenience caused.

The initial report reads:

WORCESTER ROUTE

PHASE 1

Selected key events

Cell C

Vodacom

MTN

Call established

Call attempt

179

156

193

Call attempt retry

29

30

0

Blocked call

6

15

14

Call setup

173

145

179

Call established

173

144

179

Call release

Call end

162

113

177

Dropped call

11

30

2

Drop call rate

6.36%

20.83%

1.12%

Updated information:

WORCESTER ROUTE

PHASE 1

Selected key events

Cell C

Vodacom

MTN

Call established

Call attempt

146

154

154

Call attempt retry

10

0

1

Blocked call

7

0

8

Call setup

139

154

146

Call established

139

154

146

Call release

Call end

125

150

144

Dropped call

13

3

1

Drop call rate

9.35%

1.95%

0.68%

Share