Orange announced today that it covers 100% of urban areas in Romania with its 4G network, the operator having the best coverage in these areas in Romania. The announcement from Orange is surprising, despite the massive investments made in the 4G network in Romania, and I say this because of the percentage that is announced today, full coverage being extremely difficult to achieve.
If you use Orange's 4G network, you will surely have noticed that you have 4G coverage in almost any area of a city, which is not the case with other operators. We also include the inside of the buildings here, because almost everywhere you will be, you should have a 4G connection on your smartphone connected to the Orange mobile phone network in Romania.
Those from Orange have invested a lot of money in building and expanding the 4G network in Romania, and the traffic has increased 128 times since its launch, in 2014, until now. Unfortunately, this also comes with a problem, namely the Internet browsing speed has noticeably decreased, but even so it is much higher than that offered by the 3G networks in our country.
Orange has the largest 4G coverage at urban level
According to those from Orange, Bucharest, Cluj, Iași, Sibiu and Mureș are the cities where the biggest traffic peaks in Romania are registered, the hours 20:00 and 22:00 being the ones when the network is used the most. Regarding usage, 39% of the total is represented by streaming, 47% is represented by browsing and 5% of the traffic is registered by messaging applications.
Orange and Vodafone are the operators with the best 4G networks in Romania, and here we are talking about the coverage and internet speeds offered. Orange has had an advantage over Vodafone for some time, and today's announcement reinforces the idea that it invests more in its own network than its competitors.
"Orange offers 4% 100G coverage at urban level
Bucharest, May 22, 2017. The most extensive 4G network now offers 100% urban coverage. 20 years after the launch of the network, this represents a landmark moment for the company, with Orange offering uninterrupted connectivity and access to digital content at higher speeds, always anticipating users' needs.
Since the launch of the Orange 4G service nationwide in 2014, data traffic at 4G speeds has increased 128 times, demonstrating the increasing need for connectivity. And the past year has kept the upward trend of increased connectivity. Thus, 4G traffic increased fourfold in Q1 2017 vs Q1 2016. As of March 31, 2017, 2,4 million customers were using Orange 4G services, twice as much as in the first quarter of 2016. All this was supported by the increase in smartphone sales and devices connected to the smartphone (smartwatches, fitness bracelets, robots, VR glasses, Apple Airpods and headsets with personal assistant), as well as the rapid expansion of the coverage of 4G services offered by Orange.
The areas where 4G services consistently record the highest traffic peaks are Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi, Sibiu and Mureș. The time slot with the highest traffic increases is between 20:00 and 22:00, and this trend has been maintained since the launch of 4G services. The most popular categories of applications and content for which users use 4G services are: 39% streaming, 47% browsing, 5% of the traffic is recorded by messaging applications.
At the moment, the Orange 4G network is present in 7585 localities. The most extensive 4G network in Romania, which now offers 100% urban coverage, has brought customers both top speeds and innovations for high connectivity. One such innovation is the 4G call. Through this service, launched in 2015, customers benefit from almost instant call connection. Calls are in HD quality over the 4G network.
The quality of the 4G services offered by Orange both to customers using prepaid cards and to subscribers has received the recognition of international certification bodies. Thus, in December 2016, the company received, for the third consecutive year, from the independent auditor LCC International, the certification for the best network in Romania, both for mobile internet and voice services, including 4G calls.
"The investments made in expanding 4G coverage meet our customers' need for uninterrupted connectivity at higher speeds, wherever and whenever they need it. To support digital transformation, network quality is essential. Through the investments and efforts we have made, we aimed to strengthen a reliable network, precisely to meet the increasing need for connectivity, so that our users have, as they have been used to for two decades, access to services of the highest quality. high quality." said Ștefan Slavnicu, Chief Technical Officer in Orange Romania."
