Two reasons: first, so consumers can choose the operator that's best for them, and second, to help policymakers understand the state of mobile networks in their country.
Have you ever thought “My mobile service is lousy” and wondered if another operator would be better? With apples, its pretty easy to buy several different types, then decide which one you like.
SIM 1 has a better signal than SIM 2
Not so simple with mobile operators. New contracts can be expensive and keeping your number is troublesome or impossible. And how do you know if a new operator would be any better?
National rankings don’t necessarily help. Operator X may be the best on average, but its service in your house may be poor. It all depends on how you use your mobile.
Or maybe you use Wi-Fi at home and at work, so really need mobile connectivity on your commute, by car, bus or train.
The SignalTracker app gives a good idea of service quality at the locations that matter to you. Are you getting reasonable signal strength? Are you getting consistent download speeds?
If not, another operator could be better. With SignalTracker you can also make a direct signal strength comparison by putting the competitor’s SIM card in your second SIM slot. If the results look better, then it’s time to change!
Moving to the second motivation, putting the results of all these individual experiences together can improve public policy. Governments want to ensure that the whole country – rural areas included – has access to good mobile services.
The actual signals being received by real users is the best way of checking: much better than the projections on which policy-makers often rely. So we analyse these individual results and our sister company uses them to provide research which informs decision-making.
