- Office of Electronic Communications

A competition for a certified mechanism to monitor the quality of Internet access has been launched

In connection with the upcoming end of the certification period of the functioning mechanism to monitor the quality of Internet access services this year, the President of UKE has announced a competition for the mechanism’s provider for the next 24 months, starting from December 1, 2020.

The new version of the mechanism will introduce changes that will enable consumers to use this tool even more conveniently. The most important improvements are:

• increase of the maximum measured speed from 1 Gbps to 2.5 Gbps

• increased availability of applications for various operating systems

• introduction of automatic sequential measurement options

• exclusion of the registration obligation for information-only measurements

• introduction of the English language version of the application and website

The aim of the mechanism is to contribute to the increase of the protection of users and provide information on the parameters of services provided to them, as well as to increase competition between providers based on the quality of services provided.

Under EU law, fixed-line Internet providers are required to provide the minimum, usually available and maximum data transmission offered in the contracts. Thanks to the existence of a mechanism, certified by the President of UKE, consumers have a tool that allows them to unquestionably verify the quality of the service received with the provisions in the contract.

Both the  existing and future mechanism, can be used to measure the speed of fixed and mobile internet, but according to the law only measurements of fixed-line internet quality, carried out in accordance with the instructions, are certified and may serve as evidence in possbile disputes between consumers and service providers.

Thanks to the mechanism, Internet users have so far made 685 000  measurements, including 49 000  certified measurements of fixed-line internet speeds.

The new system - similarly to the current one - will consist, among others, of a website and desktop applications (e.g. desktop, laptop). The entity selected in the competition will provide the measuring system free of charge, as a result of which it will obtain the certificate of the President of UKE. The selected system will be certified by the President of UKE for a period of 24 months, starting from December 1, 2020.

The deadline for submission of bids is June 29, 2020, at 12:00. Details in Polish in Public Information Bulletin (BIP).