If 2020 has taught me something, it is to appreciate every big or small thing which gives us hope. Anything that reminds us that we’re not alone. It could be my mother’s rajma-chaawal, a late-night group video call with my besties or even a reliable mobile network that makes it possible. Just like Airtel.

And I am not the only one who thinks so. Airtel is the best network for my video calls. In the September Mobile experience report by Opensignal, Airtel bagged awards in four out of seven categories for outstanding performances in gaming, download speed, video quality and voice-app experience. Opensignal is a global standard on mobile network analyses which studies the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.

As per the report, Airtel has won the very first Opensignal Games Experience award, which was declared after assessing how users experience real-time multiplayer mobile gaming across different operators in India. The report was created after the analysis of different network providers factoring in parameters such as latency, packet loss and jitter on gameplay. So if you’re into gaming like me, then according to the results, you’ll get the best experience with Airtel. 

Next comes the download speed experience, in which Airtel has once again retained the top spot for the sixth time in a row, with an average download speed of whopping 10.4 Mbps. What’s praiseworthy is the fact that Airtel maintained its performance even during the pandemic when internet activity was significantly higher than before. 

And with Airtel’s download speed being at top of its game, video quality also had to follow suit. With an impressive score of 57.6 points in video experience, Airtel is reigning over its contemporaries fourth time in a row. With a lead of 3.4 points over its closest competitor, Airtel is the only operator to secure a position in the Good category in video experience, which requires a network to score between 55-65 points. So, goodbye video lags!

Lastly, Airtel also swept the award for the best Voice-app experience for the second time in a row with a score of 75.5 out of 100. Opensignal’s Voice App category measures the quality of calls for over-the-top voice services such as WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc. And Airtel has successfully retained the acceptable (74-80) rating.

There are a few other popular firms doing their own network analysis as well but what makes Opensignal’s report valuable is their methodology. For example, while Ookla partners up with internet providers to test performance under ideal conditions, Opensignal considers the network performance an average user gets in everyday life. And that, for me, is important when it comes to choosing my network.