The Center for Information and Technology Development (CITAD) has launched its newly developed software tagged, ‘Network Tester Pro’ to track the speed and volume of data provided by network service providers nationwide.
The Executive Director of CITAD, Engr. Yunusa Ya’u made the announcement during a press conference held at CITAD’s Kano office Yesterday (Friday).
Engr. Ya’u said CITAD is keen on promoting community networks to build the capacity of community development to manage their network infrastructure as well as to meet their connectivity needs without waiting for the government.
According to him, the newly developed application would boost network strength by promoting transparency and accountability regarding data purchases in the country.
“Sometimes consuming data too fast or experiencing poor services is a clear indication that the speed claimed to have been given to us by our network providers is much lower than what we paid for” Mr Ya’u hinted.
The Executive Director also added that another aim of the spectrum analyzer is to test the claim by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) that, it had reduced the clusters of communities without connectivity from over 200 to 114 nationwide.
“These 114 clusters reduced are referred to underserved or unserved communities. Technically it means they don’t have an internet network or they are on 2G service which is limited to just voice and text messages”
“But in reality, dwellers of those communities struggle to do large activities of internet activities by climbing trees or high hills to catch flowing connectivity in the air” Yau explained.
He also pointed out that, the app will help individuals to understand how they can make use of the data purchased from their network providers and also to know the rate at which the data is running.
The application which is available for download on Google Play Store also has features which allow users to share their network information as well as location with their loved ones for ease of tracking.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sstech.ping.suh.apps&hl=en&gl=US