Press Releases

Lisbon, 20 March 2007 – Vodafone is the operator with the best overall performance in terms of coverage, accessibility and network quality on both GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) technology, according to tests carried out in November and December 2006 by the National Communications Authority (Anacom).

In the tests of GSM (2G) technology, Vodafone had the best and most consistent performance, with the best Call Termination Rate both in Urban Centres and in Road Corridors.

In the tests of UMTS (3G) technology, the differences between operators were more marked than with GSM, with Vodafone once again having the best overall performance and most consistent results.

According to Anacom, in terms of Service Accessibility, Vodafone had the best results in terms of successful establishment of calls in urban centres and road corridors.

In addition, Anacom also marks out Vodafone as the operator with the best average results in terms of both Audio Quality and Video Quality in videocalls in urban centres and road corridors.

For these tests, voice calls on GSM (2G) technology and videocalls on UMTS (3G) technology were used, as specified by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) for this type of testing.

In selecting the test sites, those places where the services are most heavily used were chosen i.e. the biggest urban centres and principal road corridors. Geographical distribution was also taken into account so as to include the interior regions of Portugal.

In addition to the National Communications Authority tests, Vodafone also performs regular tests of the quality of its network, using the same internationally accepted parameters used by Anacom.