What Do Users Expect from a Mobile Network?
Yettel and Global Experts Discuss Global and Local Trends
Belgrade, September 25, 2026 - Data consumption on the Yettel mobile network has increased by nearly 40% compared to the previous year. Video content and social media platforms are the primary drivers of traffic growth, with YouTube usage increasing by around 30%, and Instagram and TikTok by 20%. Some of the heaviest data users consume more than 500 GB per day.
These were just some of the insights shared during a panel discussion organized by Yettel at the Palace of Science, focusing on the latest trends in telecommunications. The event brought together representatives from Yettel, as well as experts from Ookla, P3, and umlaut. The discussion covered how mobile network quality is measured today, what matters most to users, how emerging technologies are shaping network development, and what opportunities lie ahead.
This year, Yettel received three awards recognizing it as the provider of the best mobile network in Serbia: the Ookla Speedtest Award™, the P3 Test Champion award, and the umlaut Best in Test distinction. As a result, Yettel became the only operator in Serbia whose mobile network quality has been confirmed through all three independent international benchmarking assessments.
The event was opened by Mike Michel, CEO of Yettel, who spoke about network investments, the development of 5G technology, and what customers value most: a network that is fast, stable, and reliable.
"According to Kantar research for the first half of 2026, and based on users’ own ratings, Yettel ranked first in five key network quality attributes: overall quality, mobile network and internet coverage, speed, and the reliability and stability of mobile internet. We will continue investing in expanding both 5G coverage and network capacity, in urban areas as well as along major highways and railway corridors. Thanks to our network modernization program, basic 5G coverage is now available across almost the entire territory of the Republic of Serbia." said Mike Michel, CEO of Yettel.
What Does a Future-Ready Network Look Like?
Although they use different methodologies, all three international benchmark tests evaluate networks through the lens of user experience. Today, network quality encompasses much more than speed alone. Stability, reliability, responsiveness, availability, and the quality of services that users rely on every day are all equally important.
"Alongside the development of the radio network, we continue to increase the capacity of our transport and optical infrastructure to ensure that growing data traffic is supported with the necessary capacity, reliability, and availability. Artificial intelligence is already changing the way networks operate, from predicting potential issues to optimizing traffic in real time. It will transform mobile networks from reactive systems into networks that anticipate traffic demands, automatically resolve disruptions, and optimize capacity in real time. It is no coincidence that 91% of operators globally already use, or plan to use, AI in network operations." said Saša Leković, Chief Technology and Information Officer at Yettel.
Independent Methodologies Focused on Real User Experience
- Ookla® awarded Yettel the Speedtest Award™ for the Best Mobile Network in Serbia for the first half of 2026. The award is based on the Speedtest Connectivity Score™, which measures the overall mobile user experience. It takes into account various indicators, including speed, latency, and the quality of everyday activities such as web browsing and video streaming. Based on these measurements, Yettel achieved the highest score in Serbia.
- umlaut evaluates mobile networks using its crowdsourcing methodology, collecting data 24/7 through a large number of user devices and applications. According to umlaut's findings, 161.6 million samples were analyzed for the Yettel mobile network, which achieved a score of 911 out of 1,000 points, with coverage reaching 99.2% of Serbia’s population. For Yettel’s fixed network, umlaut analyzed 20.7 million measurements collected from 55,582 customer connections in 2026.
- P3 assesses mobile network quality based on measurements gathered from real users during everyday network usage. In addition to standard categories such as call quality, data performance, network responsiveness, video streaming, gaming, and network availability, this year’s evaluation also included AI Readiness and AI Services, measuring how prepared a network is for AI-powered applications and how dependent those applications are on low network latency. More than 20.2 million measurements were analyzed in this year’s assessment, covering 96% of Serbia’s population and 92% of the country’s inhabited areas.
