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The benchmark, published by consulting, engineering and testing services company P3 and tech publication CommsDay, compared the Vodafone, Telstra and Optus networks, recording big

improvements for all carriers in 2015. This year, the total measurement area represented around 70 per cent of the Australian population, up from around 50 per cent last year, with Telstra

coming out on top across the vast majority of categories, while Vodafone recorded massive year-on-year gains. In the voice category, Telstra came out ahead on all metrics, however the

benchmark notes that “competition was fierce with metro voice performance a much closer race than last year”, with all three operators demonstrating very stable call performance. Outside the

main cities, Telstra continues to wield an advantage over its rivals by virtue of its larger network. In the mobile data category, the benchmark notes that all “operators’ networks proved

extremely reliable and stable in the metro areas, with session ratios close to perfect in almost all tests”, with Telstra again “a particular standout”. “Much of the investment made by

operators in their networks is designed to achieve higher data speeds that, split between all the users on a network, make everyday tasks go just that bit smoother: things like sending and

downloading music files, photos and emails,” the benchmark notes. “So some of their individual strengths started to come out in up- and download testing.” For smaller file downloads, 90 per

cent of samples clocked better than 9.9 Mbps on Telstra, with Optus in second with 8.4 Mbps and Vodafone 5.5 Mbps. For peak testing, over a 10-second window Telstra recorded the highest

average downstream throughput at 46.4 Mbps, with Optus 38.3 Mbps and Vodafone 31.7Mbps. Vodafone came out on top in peak metro upload testing, with an average throughput of 19.9 Mbps, with

Telstra recording 18.7 Mbps and Optus 9.5 Mbps. Again, for mobile data, moving out of the major metropolitan areas, scores began to separate out, with Telstra a clear leader in almost all

categories. In total, across all categories Telstra posted a final score of 84.6 per cent, followed by Optus with 78 per cent and Vodafone with 72 per cent. All three telcos posted

improvements on their 2014 rankings, with Telstra up from 79 per cent, Optus from 61.4 per cent and Vodafone from 51.6 per cent. “While the operators’ respective network investments have

really pulled through into clear improvements in this year’s results, they’re all pushing ahead with even more upgrades and enhancements – and have all committed to the capital expenditure

they’ll need to stay at the forefront of mobile technology,” the benchmark notes. “So we can expect to be able to measure corresponding improvements in next year’s benchmark.” Voice over LTE

(VoLTE) represents one of the biggest changes taking place right now, the benchmark further observes, with VoLTE to be measured in the 2016 report.