Ookla claims data accuracy, Jio says data contaminated

New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) Clarifying on its testing method, broadband speed tester Ookla on Wednesday said data accuracy and neutrality is of utmost importance and the company goes to great lengths to ensure that the information collected on any Speedtest internet test is verifiably correct.

Reliance Jio on Wednesday said that admission by Ookla reinforces Jio's submission that there is a clear contamination in the primary data collected by Ookla in India.

"Data accuracy and neutrality are of utmost importance to Ookla and the company goes to great lengths to ensure that the information collected on any Speedtest internet test is verifiably correct," the company said in a statement.

Reliance Jio lodged a complaint with the advertising watchdog -- Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) -- on Monday against Ookla declaring Airtel as the "Fastest Mobile Network" in India, but Ookla on Tuesday clarified that the test was based on third and fourth quarter data of 2016.

Ookla also said that much of the commentary had focused on dual-SIM devices.

"The carrier displayed in the Speedtest Android application is based on the 'active carrier' value returned by the device. Due to limitations of the Android platform, the 'active carrier' does not always indicate the actual data provider in devices with multiple SIMs."

"In these situations, Ookla applies additional data sources and mechanisms during post processing to help determine the actual data carrier being tested," it added.

Pointing out Ookla's flaws, Reliance Jio on Wednesday said: "With reference to the issue of the fundamental flaw in Ookla's Speedtest methodology which Jio has pointed out repeatedly, we note that Ookla has now admitted to 'limitations' in its application, and that it 'does not always indicate the actual data provider in devices with multiple SIMs'."

This admission by Ookla reinforces Jio's submission that there was a clear contamination in primary data collected by Ookla in India, where nearly 90 per cent of smartphones are dual-SIM devices, it said.

"Any results that are based on incorrect and contaminated primary data cannot be definitive, only probabilistic. It is a travesty that such results are being passed off as 'official' results by a market-leading operator. We will continue to expose such misleading practices and raise it at suitable forums," Reliance Jio added.

Newcomer Reliance Jio, which has over 100 million subscribers, has also separately served a legal notice to Ookla for what it has termed as its "flawed" test.