India’s telecom regulator TRAI has announced that it will launch an app that will allow consumers to measure the internet speed and send the information to the authority. The app and the portal will be launched on July 5.
The statement from TRAI also said that the application would also send information on coverage, location and network information to TRAI.
This step has been taken because, despite the minimum internet speed being set, consumers complain about low internet speed. It was also found that the users were getting 2G speed despite subscribing to 3G in select cities.
This gives consumers means to report poor data speed to TRAI directly, instead of having to go through a long and painful process of complaining to the service provider. This is the first app under the Digital India program that is designed to tackle poor data speed.
The app MySpeed is free to download on the Play Store. The interface of the app is simple and easy to use. The app tests both mobile internet and WiFi speed. All the test records are all stacked in the history page, along with the locations. A set of detailed test data will be stored in the app, including data such as speed of upload, network reliability and delay in the network. All these can be sent to TRAI by clicking on a button that reads “send to TRAI.”
The app has a pretty basic interface, and has no ads, making it the least bit annoying. Users stacking up speed data for the purpose of sending them to TRAI puts the service providers on the radar. Major players like Vodafone and Airtel have often been accused of not providing up to the mark services, but such transparency and direct flow of information has the potential to change things drastically.
