How IDA's MyConnection SG is Helping Consumers Improve QoE with Operators

By Zia Askari | TelecomDrive.com

With an aim to inject transparency with regards to delivery of quality of experience (QoE) for the end consumer community, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) in Singapore is spearheading MyConnection SG, a mobile application that utilises voluntary crowdsourcing to improve the quality of experience for mobile broadband users.

MyConnection SG gathers usage experience from users’ mobile phones, such as broadband speed, latency and coverage on mobile cellular networks such as 2G, 3G and 4G, as well as on Wi-Fi networks.

This allows IDA to have a better understanding of mobile broadband performance, and provides information on consumers’ usage experience.

Since the start of the pilot in October 2014, around 4,000 users have shared their individual mobile experience with IDA, and the app has gathered more than 50 million data points.

The results showed that mobile users had good 3G service coverage experience island-wide, while coverage experience on 4G had been improving.  Typical data download speed experienced by 80% of 4G participants was good, between 5.1 and 42.4 Mbps, with a peak speed of 87.7 Mbps.  At these speeds, users can expect good experience for social networking, video streaming and online gaming.

Typical data download speeds on 4G were about 5 times faster than 3G with much shorter latency (about 4 times shorter) when establishing a connection. Data download speed on Wireless@SG services was also higher than the expected 2Mbps of bandwidth provided at public areas, achieving a peak speed of 8.5Mbps.

MyConnection SG has helped to identify areas with high utilisation as well as potential cellular blind spots. The results have been shared with the mobile telecommunication operators to address areas where data coverage needs to improve. Overall, the data from MyConnection SG will help plan for efficient upgrades for a better user experience.

IDA is publishing the MyConnection SG results to increase information transparency to help consumers make informed choices on their mobile broadband plans.

Speaking about this initiative, during the recently concluded CommunicAsia 2015, Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information said that this app has revealed data speed and latency of the three Telco networks and highlighted physical spots where data coverage needs to improve.

"The data collected through this pilot will increase transparency of information to help consumers make informed decisions on their mobile plans and eventually improve user experience," he added.

IDA is satisfied with the outcome of the pilot and will be implementing MyConnection SG as a longer-term measure. IDA aims to launch the official release of the app by end 2015.

MyConnection SG is available on both the Apple App Store for iPhone users, and the Google Play Store for Android users.The pilot will end on 30 June 2015.

Information collection for MyConnection SG is anonymised, and no personal data which can be used to identify an individualwill be collected (e.g. Mobile number, IMEI, photographs or video images, personal email address or online profiles).