Have you ever wondered which mobile operator has the best performance in your city?
Which operator has a better coverage over your home? And your office?
Today, we are going to introduce you to a very useful tool: OpenSignal.
Opensignal build real up to date coverage map of mobile networks all across the world. To achieve this, the London-based service do not rely on mobile operator data but simply use your smartphone.
Opensignal app is available for iOS and Android. Created in 2010, it is now used by more than 20 millions of users all over the world. The app gives you access not only to Opensignal mobile coverage map but also provide useful details on the mobile network performance such as the average download rate for a specific area per technology (2G/3G or 4G LTE). Opensignal app also includes a feature to find and connect to free public Wi-Fi.
Opensignal data is crowd-sourced which mean that every user agrees to contribute to the service. Once you download an install the app, Opensignal will automatically start collecting various information on your phone background such as the mobile signal strength. The amount of data uploaded is very small but if you are still worry about your mobile bill, it is possible to set the app to only upload data using WiFi. As the service is constantly monitoring the customer experience, OpenSignal map is the most accurate source of information when it comes to mobile coverage.
The app also embeds a Speedtest service. Every time you run a speedtest, results are uploaded on Opensignal and contribute to the statistics.
In Myanmar, OpenSignal data collection is already impressive
Thanks to Opensignal, you can find out for example that only Telenor has 4G in Kalaw, that Ooredoo 4G is nearly non existent in Myeik, or that none of the mobile operators have deployed 4G yet in Hakha.
Besides mobile coverage, the app also displays the average mobile speed per operator. Unfortunately, the feature is not available everywhere in Myanmar due to the lack of data.
According to Opensignal, Telenor has the fastest mobile data network in Yangon whereas MPT is faster in Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw.
The app is overall extremely user friendly and easy to use. For those travelling all around Myanmar, Opensignal will be a perfect road companion to stay connected and enjoy fast data service everywhere you are.
Herbert is a nom de plume.
I am an experienced telecom professional blogging about the fastest growing Internet market in the world: Myanmar.