QUARTER ONE (Q1) 2016 QUALITY OF SERVICE REPORT FOR

MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS (TNM/AIRTEL)

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The quarter one 2016 report analyses the key Performance Indicators which have been
achieved by the GSM Service providers namely TNM and Airtel within the months of
January, February and March.
The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) under consideration are Radio Network Availability,
Call Set up Success Rate, SDCCH Congestion, Traffic Channel Congestion, Call Drop Rate,
Handover Success Rate, GPRS Context Activation Success Rate, SMS Success Rate, Trunk
Congestion, MSC Availability and IN Platform Availability.
All the graphs in this report were plotted using already analyzed data which was
submitted by both Airtel and Telekom Networks Malawi Limited. It must be noted that
MACRA currently does not have proper tools to independently verify what has been
submitted by the operators.

Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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2.0 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

2.1 CALL SETUP SUCCESS RATE (CSSR)

CALL SETUP SUCCESS RATE

PERCENTAGE

100
98
96
94
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
98

Feb-16
98

Mar-16
98

AIRTEL

98.320

98.240

98.200

TNM

98.430

98.655

99.450

Graph 1 Showing Call Setup Success Rate

NOTE: Both Airtel and TNM managed to meet the target for the period under review.
2.2 SIGNALLING (SDCCH) CONGESTION

SDCCH CONGESTION
Percentage

0.6
0.4
0.2
0
Jan-16

Feb-16

Mar-16

MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
0.5

Feb-16
0.5

Mar-16
0.5

AIRTEL

0.290

0.170

0.120

TNM

0.110

0.110

0.130

Graph 2 Showing SDCCH Congestion

NOTE: Both Airtel and TNM managed to meet the target for the period under review.
Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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2.3 TRAFFIC CHANNEL (TCH) CONGESTION

TRAFFIC CHANNEL CONGESTION

2.5
PERCENTAGE

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
2.0

Feb-16
2.0

Mar-16
2.0

AIRTEL

0.390

0.440

0.470

TNM

0.060

0.070

0.130

Graph 3 Showing Traffic Channel Congestion

NOTE: Both Airtel and TNM managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review.
2.4 CALL DROP RATE

CALL DROP RATE

Percentage

3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
Jan-16

Feb-16

Mar-16

MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
2.0

Feb-16
2.0

Mar-16
2.0

AIRTEL

0.960

1.030

0.990

TNM

0.55

0.55

0.57

Graph 4 Showing Call Drop Rate

NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review.
Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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2.5 HANDOVER SUCCESS RATE

HANDOVER SUCCESS RATE

97.0
PERCENTAGE

96.0
95.0
94.0
93.0
92.0
91.0
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
95.0

Feb-16
95.0

Mar-16
95.0

AIRTEL

95.980

96.010

96.410

TNM

92.910

93.30

93.98

Graph 5 Showing Handover Success Rate

NOTE: Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under review. TNM
failed to meet the target for the whole period under review as shown in the graph above.
2.6 GPRS CONTEXT ACTIVATION SUCCESS RATE

GPRS CONTEXT ACTIVATION SUCCESS RATE

PERCENTAGE

98.0

93.0

88.0
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
90.0

Feb-16
90.0

Mar-16
90.0

AIRTEL

99.210

99.090

98.930

TNM

99.800

99.830

99.580

Graph 6 Showing GPRS Context Activation Success Rate

Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review.
2.7 SMS SUCCESS RATE

SMS SUCCESS RATE

100.0
PERCENTAGE

98.0
96.0
94.0
92.0
90.0
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
90.0

Feb-16
90.0

Mar-16
90.0

AIRTEL

98.710

98.660

98.600

TNM

99.560

99.598

99.588

Graph 7 Showing SMS Success Rate

NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review as shown in the graph above.

2.8 TRUNK CONGESTION

TRUNK CONGESTION
PERCENTAGE

2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
2.0

Feb-16
2.0

Mar-16
2.0

AIRTEL

0.002

0.003

0.003

TNM

0.210

0.830

0.290

Graph 8 Showing Trunk Congestion

Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under review as
shown in the graph above.

2.9 MOBILE SWITCHING CENTRE (MSC) AVAILABILITY

MSC AVAILABILTY
PERCENTAGE

100.000

99.999

99.998
Jan-16
99.999

Feb-16
99.999

Mar-16
99.999

AIRTEL

100

100

100

TNM

100

100

100

MACRA TARGET

Graph 9 Showing MSC Availability

NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review as shown in the graph above.

2.10 IN PLATFORM AVAILABILITY

IN PLATFORM AVAILABILITY
PERCENTAGE

100.000

99.999

99.998
Jan-16
99.999

Feb-16
99.999

Mar-16
99.999

AIRTEL

100

100

100

TNM

100

100

100

MACRA TARGET

Graph 10 Showing IN Platform availability

Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target during the whole period under
review as shown in the graph above.
2.11 RADIO NETWORK AVAILABILITY

RADIO NETWORK AVAILABILITY

100.00
PERCENTAGE

99.90
99.80
99.70
99.60
99.50
MACRA TARGET

Jan-16
99.70

Feb-16
99.70

Mar-16
99.70

AIRTEL

99.870

99.870

99.930

TNM

99.937

99.945

99.931

Graph 11 Showing Radio Network Availability

NOTE: Both TNM and Airtel managed to meet the target for the period under review as
shown in the graph above.
3.0

CONCLUSION

Both operators need to be commended for all the key performance indicator targets they
managed to meet within the quarter under review.
TNM perfomance needs to improve in the Handover Success Rate KPI target as its
performance in this Key Performance Indicator was below acceptable levels.
While the KPI averages look good on paper after aggregated quartely averages, MACRA is
aware that consumers are getting a raw deal from the operators in some areas of service
delivery. MACRA would thus like to assure the general public that it is doing its utmost best
to facilitate the introduction of independent means of verifying the submitted data from
operators so as to achieve quality of service delivery to facilitate the promotion of universal
ICT access.

Quarter One 2016 Quality of Service Report for TNM and Airtel

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