Here is how Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR networks are tested

Campaigns to measure the quality of service of mobile operator networks are carried out every year throughout France. We were able to follow one of the teams in charge of this mission.

This man who discreetly walks the streets of Paris could almost go unnoticed. But the content of his big backpack is not trivial since it is filled with smartphones. They are used to test the mobile networks of Bouygues Telecom, Free Mobile, Orange and SFR. Eighteen technicians are currently criss-crossing France with this equipment.

Service quality surveys carried out by Arcep, the authority that regulates telecoms, are of strategic importance for mobile operators. Whoever gets the best results can gain a competitive advantage. We therefore wanted to know how this was going in practice on the ground.

A secret mission

It should be noted that the Authority which regulates telecoms does not carry out the measurements itself. Service providers are tasked with this following calls for tender renewed each year. And these are different companies that are responsible for testing the coverage and quality of service.

Technicians go to pre-determined sites and carry out mobile quality of service measurements indoors, outdoors, then in a vehicle to get to the next point. Each step lasts about thirty minutes. A secret mission since no one must know of their arrival, so as not to modify the network.

The backpack contains no less than nine state-of-the-art smartphones. With the batteries and the fans that accompany them, the weight of the bag easily exceeds ten kilos. “There are eight to do the measurement tests and one to bring up the logs”explains Jean-Luc QUAC, Measurement Coordinator at AFD.TECH. “The tablet PC controls the mobiles that are in the bag. We run the script with her and that’s where the phones click”he adds.

The script will execute the loading of a dozen web pages among the most used by the French, downloading files, sending files, watching videos on YouTube and measuring download and upload speed.

A controlled environment

So, how is this different from the speed tests that anyone can perform on their smartphone? The environment is controlled and the tests obey a very strict protocol accessible to everyone online. Conversely, a single user may, for example, have several applications launched at the same time, affecting the results or using a tool that does not respect the same rules as those of Arcep. A code of good conduct has also been detailed for them.

However, it is impossible to generalize these campaigns. “We cannot test all of France”warns Guillaume Decorzent, head of the “Coverage and mobile investments” unit at Arcep. “The tests are demanding and long. Instead, we focus on sampling areas that are representative of various user situations.”. The 2,122 sites selected must reflect the diversity of user experience: very dense, rural areas, highways, trains or even the metro. And we have them in every department.

All this data will first be communicated to the operators but they will only have access to the information which concerns them. They will then be integrated into the cartographic tool in the fall Monreseaumobile.arcep.fr.