Mobile Broadband Quality
Australia
Interested in understanding the geographic areas where smartphone users face challenges accessing robust 4G/5G mobile broadband signals essential for remote work, education, and telemedicine?
From the perspective of addressing the digital divide, the following report shows that Telstra has the largest coverage footprint in our dataset when combining connected and under-connected locations. Telstra reports 92% more location counts than Optus and 383% more than Vodafone.
Table 1. Australia Mobile Broadband Quality Location Counts (1km Bins) by MNO
Key Findings for Table 1.
• Table 1 displays the quantity of 1km bins, defined as approximately 1km x 1km locations, in which users from the M2 dataset encountered either no connection, a suboptimal connection, or an optimal connection. Note that location counts are subject to overlapping. A location with more than one MNO reporting will be included in each MNO’s count.

• This study identified a minimum of 17,658 and a maximum of 32,112 unconnected bins (Dead Zones aka Not-Spots), depending on the degree of overlap. This represents between 7.5% and 14% of the unique bin count (locations reporting at least one quality reading from any of the MNOs in the study).

• This study identified a minimum of 51,109 and a maximum of 69,711 under-connected bins, depending on the degree of overlap. This represents between 22% and 30% of the unique bin count.

• Mobile Broadband Quality data layers including under-connected locations where some users are experiencing poor service on a 4G network type are available as CSV exports. Coordinates and mapping of the Dead Zones are available on M2's Crowd SiteIntel platform.
Table 2. Australia Percentage of Records by MNO
Table 3: Australia Mobile Broadband Quality Location Percentages by MNO
Key Findings for Table 3.
• Table 3 displays the Mobile Broadband Quality of each operator within their respective network footprint, as derived from the M2 dataset. Results presented in the table are rounded, which may affect totals presented.

• Optus has the greatest connected location percentage at 79%, while the other MNOs range between 66% and 77%.

• Vodafone has the lowest under-connected location percentage at 8%, while the other MNOs range between 14% and 25%.

• Vodafone has the greatest Dead Zone location percentage at 15%, while the other MNOs range between 7% and 9%.
Your Next Step
To visualize detailed insights from the M2 dataset utilized for this study, M2 provides Mobile Broadband Quality data layers as CSV exports. These layers are optimized for seamless integration into network planning and GIS tools, such as Esri ArcGIS and comparable platforms.
As part of our suite of solutions, M2 offers Crowd SiteIntel, a powerful data analytics and visualization platform capable of analyzing mobile network performance readings for competitive benchmarking, identifying 'Dead Zones', and more. Experience the capabilities of Crowd SiteIntel today.

Schedule a demo on MNO Competitive Benchmarking

Learn how to identify Dead Zones using the Crowd SiteIntel platform.

Study Methods:
The extensive dataset for this global study, comprising hundreds of billions of records, was collected between July 1 and December 31, 2024 from mobile applications installed on millions of mobile devices. All data collection was carried out in accordance with our privacy policy, with explicit permission obtained from the owners of the mobile devices.

M2’s proprietary Mobile Broadband Quality algorithm comprehensively evaluates various factors, including signal strength, signal quality, and throughput, across (1) the 4G/5G service footprint for each country's national Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), (2) the 2G/3G-only service footprint for each MNO, and (3) areas where mobile devices are active but unable to detect any service. Within the M2 dataset, each 1km bin with mobile activity is then assessed to determine the highest mobile use case it can support, resulting in its classification as Connected, Under-Connected, or Unconnected.


Right to Republish M2 Reports

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The M2 Crowdsourced Data, which has been developed, collected, aggregated, assembled, formatted, and supplied by M2 through the application of methods and standards of judgment developed and applied through the expenditure of substantial time, effort, and money, constitute confidential and valuable industrial property and trade secrets, and are protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. All title and copyrights in and to the M2 Crowdsourced Data and any accompanying printed materials are owned by M2.

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The M2 Crowdsourced Data may not be used as a component of or as a basis for any material offered for sale, license, subscription, or promotion.

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M2Catalyst, LLC also retains full ownership of this M2 Mobile Broadband Quality report, encompassing all intellectual property rights, data, content, graphs, and analysis. Unauthorized quoting, reproduction, distribution, or publication for commercial use is prohibited without M2Catalyst's prior written approval. Journalists wishing to cite information from our reports must provide clear source attribution and secure prior written consent from M2Catalyst. For further information or clarification, please contact us at info@m2catalyst.com.


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