Dtac, Thailand’s second largest mobile operator, joined forces with Facebook and Ericsson to enhance users experience of mobile apps on the operator’s network.

Using a methodology developed by Ericsson and Facebook, typical interactions were triggered from Facebook test accounts and measured on different mobile test devices in central Bangkok. After adjustments to dtac’s network, Facebook upload and download times improved by as much as 60 per cent.

Nadine Allen, head of Ericsson Thailand, said: “We are proud to participate in this unique project to help bring positive app experiences for smartphone users. The resultant whitepaper detailing the methodology and findings from the project provides operators and developers a deeper understanding on many network variables that can impact user adoption, which is particularly critical as we work to connect the unconnected to the internet.”

Almost half of smartphone users in Thailand access social media on a daily basis, according to Ericsson’s latest mobility report. Over half of dtac’s 25 million subscribers are data users and Facebook is the most commonly accessed app on the network.

Markku Makelainen, Facebook’s director of global operator partnerships, said its goal is to bring affordable internet access and connectivity to the two-thirds of the world that don’t have it. “As part of this effort, we work with operators and our partners to help optimise their networks to provide a more robust experience on the Facebook app and other services. We are excited to share learnings from our work with Ericsson and dtac in the hopes that it may help others enhance mobile networks around the world.”

The study also found Facebook users could be served from the same mobile network node without having to build additional infrastructure. This provides benefits to operators like dtac in terms of delivering a superior customer experience through an optimised network, Ericsson said in a statement.