STAYING in touch with people now through the mediums of smart gadgets and new age technology has been fixed into our way of life here in the islands with an important role to our communities.
Local people have been swept into the hype and need of owning a smart gadget, to be trendy, up to date, to keep constant track of family and friends, but at what cost?
The aim of this article is to share in brief my test findings as a neutral citizen and because I feel that the general public is being misled and cheated by false advertising in the country.
My concern here is that Solomon Islanders are being misled by promises for a much more convenient experience online, but costing the subscriber an arm and a leg with regards to the data value vs data speed.
Recently I had the chance to test and research about the difference between the two communications providers by testing the upload and download speeds each network advertise.
Both companies claim to be the fastest internet service, but my aim was to prove these two respective houses were keeping their promise and giving their customers value for money.
After careful analysis and testing in 4 allocated positions in town, I was able to conclude according to the following results.
Our Telekom vs Bmobile – Vodafone – Note: Speed is measured in kbps
|
Location |
Our Telekom |
Bmobile -Vodafone |
||
|
Upload – kbps |
Download – kbps |
Upload – kbps |
Download – kbps |
|
|
CDB to Main market |
160 kbps + |
650 kbps + |
940 kbps + |
1500 |
|
Rove – Whiteriver |
125 kbps + |
1100 kbps + |
1000 kbps + |
1100 |
|
HTC – Kukum |
125 kbps + |
370 kbps + |
360 kbps + |
1400 |
|
Ranadi – Henderson |
187 kbps + |
350 kbps + |
410 kbps + |
1200 |
As a user of both communication networks, Our Telekom and Bmobile-Vodafone, the harsh reality of false advertising and experiencing the disappointment in the promise of better coverage by Our Telekom, stands out as a reminder for more transparency in future advertising.
I rely heavily on internet services for my daily business and communication needs, for technical support, uploading documentation to send to clients and downloading files and browsing for software access online and downloaded features for some applications, plus updates.
With these results, Our Telekom has to explain why they have put out mass campaigns on being the fastest data service provider, when the stats say otherwise?
Bmobile- Vodafone I understand have a smaller setup, but according to my findings they provide a faster data service for mobile phones in Honiara.
By GRAVIS KOSIRO
Honiara
