Debated in Parliament on 17 Feb 2014.
Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) what types of independent tests does IDA carry out to verify the accuracy and correctness of the network traffic logs of our local mobile network operators; and (b) whether there are any inconsistencies between mobile network coverage which is tested independently and drop call rates which are based on mobile operators' network traffic logs and, if so, what are the reasons for these inconsistencies.
To ensure that the mobile operators meet IDA's Quality of Service (QoS) standards for mobile telephone services, IDA regularly conducts tests across the island to measure the signal strengths in outdoor and in-building areas, including roads and MRT tunnels. These tests also include call success rates and drop call rates, and IDA carries out on-site audits on the mobile operators' network traffic logs to validate the operators' call success and drop call rates. The performance of the mobile operators, based on the audited results, is measured against the IDA's QoS standards.
There are no inconsistencies between the results for mobile network coverage and call drop rates as they measure different aspects of an operator's network. The former measures the presence of radio signals of a certain signal strength, at a certain location. End users typically see this represented by the varying number of signal strength "bars" on their handphones. Test results for this indicator are typically collected by IDA through drive and walk tests. The drop call rate, on the other hand, is a measure of the availability of radio channels to handle and maintain established calls. It is assessed by IDA using the network traffic logs, which reflect actual users’ data.
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