The nPerf research shows that Iliad with Wind-Tre are the slowest operators in Italy. But the situation should change in the coming months
Iliad's work to improve network quality is paying off. The confirmation comes from the study of nPerf (speed test application available for Android and iOS) on the first six months of 2019: the download and upload speed has increased on average by 7MB/s compared to the same period last year. Despite the progress, however, the Iliad network remains one of the slowest in Italy, far behind Vodafone and TIM, which recorded the best results.
The speed of the Iliad network depends on many factors, but the most important one concerns roaming: the fourth Italian operator relies on Wind-Tre antennas to cover the entire Italian territory. In 2019, work began to install proprietary antennas: having completed the bureaucratic procedures necessary for the installation of new radio links, the work is proceeding apace. For the moment there should be more than 500 active sites and the goal is to reach 3500 by the end of the year. Once these works are completed, the Iliad network should guarantee better performance in terms of download and upload speeds.
The results of nPerf research
The study by nPerf on the signal quality and network speed of the main Italian operators in the first half of 2019 is based on 125,944 tests carried out by users on the speed test application. The results show that the fastest network is Vodafone's, with an average download speed of 36.9MB/s, followed by TIM, which stops at 30.4MB/s. Iliad (26,48MB/s) and Wind Tre (26,36MB/s) are a bit more distant.
The same results are repeated for upload, where Vodafone reaches 13,09MB/s, TIM 12,51 MB/s. Iliad and Wind Tre record a very similar result: respectively 10.91MB/s and 10.05MB/s.
The discourse changes regarding latency. TIM becomes the best Italian operator with a result of 48,25ms and Vodafone follows at 50,72ms. Very detached Wind Tre (third with 72.37ms) and Iliad (96.03ms).
Iliad, investments to improve signal quality
As anticipated before, Iliad is working to install antennas to become independent. The unexceptional results recorded by the Italian operator largely depend on the use of the Wind-Tre network, which as seen by the nPerf research is one of the slowest in Italy.
In the coming months, the quality of the network should also improve thanks to the activation of the first 5G antennas: Iliad is also working on this front and has won three packages of the MiSE announcement on the new super-fast network.