Reliance Jio calls foul play over Airtel’s Fastest Mobile network claim

You probably have seen the advertisement on TV, newspapers and web about Airtel getting rated as India’s fastest mobile network. The rating was given by Ookla the company behind Speedtest by analysing millions of internet speed tests done on its app.

However, the new entrant in the India’s telecom sector Reliance Jio calls foul play on the entire hype created by Airtel. Jio has questioned the methodology adopted by Ookla for determining the mobile internet speed after a recent flaw has been discovered in the Speedtest app.

What’s the bug in Ookla’s Speedtest app? The android app records and display incorrect speed test results on smartphones with dual-SIM slots. When you run the Speedtest app, it takes into account only the network that has been assigned for voice calls. That’s irrespective of the network assigned to mobile data.

For example, if you are using Airtel as your primary connection configured for calls and Reliance Jio configured for data. When you run the Speedtest app it actually calculates the speed of Jio’s network. But due to the bug, the app records and display’s the network speed as that of Airtel instead of Jio. The Speedtest app full ignores the dual SIM settings and assign the speed test result to the primary network configured for calls.

The flaw in Ookla’s Speedtest app

• A flaw in Speedtest android app when testing in smartphones with dual SIM slot.
• Speedtest app assigns speed test results to the network configured for calls.
• The app completely ignores the dual SIM settings and network assigned for mobile data.

Reliance Jio has already raised a complaint with the Advertising Standards Council of India regarding Airtel’s advertisement. The operator claims the ads data are not true and is misleading. Jio has also sent a legal notice to Ookla regarding its rating of Airtel as ‘India’s Fastest Mobile Carrier’.

In case you have missed the new ads from Airtel claiming to be India’s fastest network, do watch it below. The campaign features Airtel Girl, Sasha Chettri.