FCC app measures wireless speeds

The Federal Communications Commission released a smartphone app Thursday that will measure the speeds of users’ wireless connections.

The free app, which is only available for devices running the Android operating system, will help the FCC gather data about the performance of cellphone carriers. 

{mosads}For the past two years, the FCC has released reports on the speeds of home broadband Internet providers. The reports allow consumers to compare the actual speeds of various providers with their advertised claims.   

The app will allow the FCC to expand those reports to cover wireless carriers. 

The agency emphasized that it will gather only aggregated, anonymous data and it will not connect any personal information from users who download the app.

The FCC said an iPhone version of the app is under development and is expected to be ready by late January 2014.