Reliance Jio to initiate actions against Ookla, says public shouldn’t be misled by false claims

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio on Tuesday said the public should not be misled by false claims based on the Ookla’s speedtest results, and it will initiate actions against the company at appropriate forums. A Jio spokesperson said that 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. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the speed which is attributed to Airtel is of the Airtel data network. We are surprised that Ookla in its press release has not talked about this issue even though they had acknowledged the blunder to us earlier. Ookla has baldly stated that they stand by their results and has skirted the main issue,” the spokesperson further added.

This follows Ookla’s statement earlier today which said that the company fully stands behind Airtel being named “India’s Fastest Mobile Network”.

“We are always improving how additional information is collected and analyzed through our Speedtest applications to allow Ookla to accurately reflect internet performance. We have taken dual SIM information into consideration…India is a dynamic market with a rapidly changing mobile landscape and we look forward to seeing how the market develops,” Jamie Steven, COO, Speedtest by Ookla said in a statement.

Jio has already approached the Advertising Standards Council of India, the advertising watchdog, seeking withdrawal of Bharti Airtel’s recent advertisements based on Ookla’s speedtest results claiming that it is India’s fastest telecom network. In its letter to ASCI, Reliance Jio said that Bharti Airtel’s advertisements based on Ookla speed test findings are false, misleading and incorrect.
In addition to the letter to ASCI, Jio also sent a legal notice to Ookla, saying that the latter falsely certified Bharti Airtel to be the “India’s Fastest Mobile Carrier with full knowledge of that your test “results” are fundamentally flawed and unreliable.
According to the notice, Ookla abused its dominance in this domain in an unethical manner by “concealing true facts, and have purported to provide an unfair advantage to Bharti Airtel and further their business interests for your commercial gains.”
Bharti Airtel’s Chief Brand Officer, Rajiv Mathrani, separately countered Jio’s statement and said that, “We are rather amused by the allegations being made against our campaign.
“We believe that this is a deliberate attempt to malign our brand and misguide customers through a campaign of misinformation, which is something we now come across on a regular basis, in particular, on social media platforms,” he added.