Ookla backs Airtel in row with Jio over Net speed ad

New Delhi, March 21: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday lashed out at Reliance Jio’s allegations around its fastest network ad campaign, saying that the complaint is a deliberate attempt to “malign the brand” and “misguide customers”.

Further, mobile internet speed testing firm Ookla has stood by the finding that the telecom major had fastest broadband network, a claim which has been challenged by Jio.

“Ookla fully stands behind Airtel being named ‘Indias Fastest Mobile Network’,” Speedtest (Ookla’s app) COO Jamie Steven said in a statement.

Ookla has named Airtel as the fastest mobile network in India based on data from Q3 and Q4 of 2016 which has been challenged by Jio.

Jio has approached the advertisement watchdog ASCI against Bharti Airtel, saying the latter's claim of being “officially the fastest network” is “misleading” and done in “mala fide manner in collusion with” broadband speed tester Ookla.

Jio has alleged that Ookla charges money for giving such awards and the company has also approached Jio for the same for the very quarter it issued certificate of fastest mobile network to Bharti Airtel.

Jio alleged that the methodology used by Ookla attributes speed result to SIM used in the primary slot of mobile phones even if Jio SIM delivering high speed has been used in the secondary slot. “The core issue is that the speedtest results are attributed to the primary sim even though the sim for which the data speedtest is conducted is the secondary sim in the case of dual-sim phones. In India, more than 90% of 4G phones are dual-sim,” Reliance Jio said.

Ookla fully stands behind Airtel being named ‘India’s Fastest Mobile Network’ — JAMIR STEVEN, Chief Operating Officer, Speedtest