Performance Evaluation of WCDMA Networks in Selected Geolocations Using Structured Questionnaire and Empirical Analysis Methods

Abstract

High influx in the number of cellular subscribers is observed to be one of the constraints to incessant poor network  performance which results to increased congestion challenges. This work is attributed towards executing network performance evaluation to ascertain the levels of degradation on the WCDMA networks from selected geographical locations in Owerri, the capital city of Imo State, Nigeria. The methods adopted are structured questionnaire and empirical analysis. Structured questionnaires were administered to survey 250 customers from the two (2) major and dominant network providers in Owerri metropolis: MTN and AIRTEL, on their Quality of Service (QoS) delivery and to determine their network satisfactory performance rates. Empirical analyses were conducted on the two networks to evaluate their network performances using the selected Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Aba road, FUTO road, Onitsha road, Orlu road and Wetheral road were selected for the analysis owing to the high density of the network subscribers within these regions. The Selected KPIs which include Call Drop Rate (CDR), Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Call Completion Success Rate (CCSR), network accessibility, network retainaibility and Receive Signal Level (RXLEV) were deployed to evaluate the various performance characteristics of the networks based on the QoS. From the result assessments, none of the networks met the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) thresholds based on the KPIs selected except for MTN network along FUTO, Wetheral and Onitsha roads marginally agreed with the NCC target value on CCSR. Also MTN network along Onitsha road slightly met the NCC target value on CSSR and network accessibility.