Linking up world's unconnected two-thirds

The scheme is an early stage of Internet.org’s mission to bring affordable internet access to the two-thirds of the world not yet connected.                                                                                            Facebook and Ericsson, in conjunction with XL Axiata, have created a new methodology to measure and improve end-to-end network performance using simulated Facebook application cases. 

The cost effective alternative network-wide – implemented through the joint project – delivered up to 70 per cent improvement in app coverage. 

Chris Daniels, vice president for Internet.org at Facebook said that as part of Internet.org’s efforts to connect the two thirds of the world’s population that is not yet connected, Facebook is committed to working with partners to develop innovative tools and share learning across the industry. 

“With the methodology set forth in this white paper, we have a model for improving network performance that can be applied globally by mobile network operators. This will help ensure we have more efficient use of existing network capacity and resources, which is key to delivering on our mission to close the connectivity gap,” said Daniels.

In Indonesia, 75 per cent of users are on 2G GSM/EDGE networks, yet the country has the fourth-largest Facebook user base in the world. The changing market realities in the country are reflected in XL Axiata’s network, where, in 2013, data traffic rose by 142 per cent. More than half of the operator’s 62.9 million subscribers are data users and a majority of those use Facebook, according to XL Axiata estimates.

Working with XL Axiata, Facebook and Ericsson created a new methodology to measure and improve end-to-end network performance. The joint project developed a framework for evaluating user key performance indicators (KPI) based on simulated Facebook application use cases with a test agent. These KPIs were correlated with network statistics. 

Hasnul Suhaimi, chief executive officer of XL Axiata said that recently the use of data services in Indonesia has increased significantly and is expected to continue into the future. 

“We believe this is the first time that an operator, network technology provider and application provider have cooperated on such a project. XL is proud to be selected by Facebook as operator partner in Indonesia.

“We believe app coverage is essential and correlating Facebook application use cases with network-wide statistics has proven to be an innovative and efficient way to detect and address the most efficient networking opportunities,” said Suhaimi.