Netradar
Netradar is a crowdsourced network intelligence platform for mobile operators, telecom regulators, private 4G/5G networks and critical communications providers. It measures real-world connectivity continuously from end-user handsets rather than through synthetic speed tests.
What is Netradar?
Netradar is a network intelligence platform that measures mobile connectivity from the devices of real end users instead of from test probes. It is published by Celltrum Ltd, a Finnish company based in Espoo, and it is sold to mobile operators, telecom regulators, operators of private 4G and 5G networks, and providers of critical communications.
The technical proposition rests on what the company calls Hybrid Measurement Technology. Rather than running periodic speed tests, the software observes the user's own traffic passively and injects lightweight latency probes during genuine data transfers, an approach the site aligns with IETF RFC 7799. The stated consequence is scale: an average of 200 speed samples per user per day, and often 2,000, for a data cost of roughly 5 MB per month per handset, which the company puts at 0.05% of typical usage. Because measurement rides on real traffic, Netradar argues the results cannot be distorted by traffic prioritisation, and that a deployment across 3% of a subscriber base is enough to be representative.
The offer is organised into three named products. Netradar Analytics delivers near real-time network insight for optimisation, surfacing missing coverage, throughput problems and handover issues. Netradar Experience addresses perceived quality, monitoring satisfaction and analysing the root causes of poor connectivity. Netradar Care supports customer care teams with real-time complaint ticketing tied to network performance, aimed at cutting mean time to repair. A free Android application, Netradar, completes the range and can be used as a proof of concept without building anything.
Architecturally, Netradar installs a private backend remotely for each customer, typically in the operator's own private cloud or on virtual machines in its own data centre. The customer then embeds a proprietary SDK into its mobile application, and data begins flowing into that private backend, where the company says more than 300 network KPIs are collected. Analysis happens in the Netradar Dashboard, from national level down to individual cells, indoors and outdoors. Named references include NTT docomo, T-Mobile US and Digita.
What it does
- Measure the connectivity end users actually experience, continuously and around the clock
- Detect coverage gaps, throughput ceilings and handover failures across a mobile network
- Diagnose the root causes behind poor perceived network quality
- Resolve customer complaints with the matching network context, in real time
- Produce evidence-based reports for regulatory oversight and operator comparison
- Monitor a connectivity vendor against an agreed service level on a private network
- Benchmark indoor and outdoor performance down to individual cells
When to use Netradar / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if Netradar is the right fit.
When to use Netradar
- Mobile network operators who need continuous, real-world visibility into the connectivity their subscribers actually experience
- Telecom regulators looking for neutral, manipulation-resistant measurements to support oversight and operator comparison
- Operators of private 4G/5G networks who must hold their connectivity vendor to a service level agreement
- Critical communications providers whose missions depend on proven coverage and reliability in the field
- RAN, transmission, core, quality assurance and customer care teams that need the same underlying performance data
When not to use Netradar
- Individuals or small businesses looking for a self-service tool: there is no public price, no sign-up and no online checkout
- Organisations without a mobile user base or a mobile application to instrument, since the whole method depends on data from handsets
- Teams that need a documented public API, as integration is only offered through a proprietary SDK under contract
- iPhone-only environments, because the SDK and the companion application are Android
- Buyers who require published security certifications, as the site claims none
How to use Netradar
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Contact the vendor through the pilot request on the homepage or by emailing the sales address, since there is no self-service sign-up
- Scope a pilot project with the vendor to establish the measurement objectives and the target user base
- Have Netradar install a private Netradar backend remotely, comprising the core technology and its algorithms
- Choose the collection route: embed the proprietary Netradar SDK in your own mobile application, or deploy the Netradar Android application instead
- Decide where the backend runs, typically your own private cloud or virtual machines in your own data centre
- Roll the instrumented application out to a share of your user base, which the vendor states can be as low as 3%
- Begin receiving network performance data from user handsets, stored in your private backend
- Open the Netradar Dashboard to review the collected KPIs across coverage, throughput, latency and handover
- Zoom from national views down to individual cells and indoor zones to locate the problem areas
- Feed the findings into RAN, quality assurance or customer care workflows, using Netradar Care for complaint handling
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Measurement rides on real user traffic rather than synthetic speed tests, yielding 200 to 2,000 samples per user per day
- Very low stated overhead, around 5 MB per month per device, or 0.05% of typical data usage
- Data lands in a private backend belonging to the customer, supporting a genuine data sovereignty argument
- On-premise and private cloud deployment is the norm, and end-user data is stated to be stored within the European Union
- Indoor and cell-level granularity, which conventional drive testing struggles to reach
- The method is tied to a public standard, IETF RFC 7799, rather than to an opaque proprietary metric
- Named, checkable references including NTT docomo, T-Mobile US and Digita, plus a TM Forum Rising Star Award in 2025
Cons
- No public pricing whatsoever: there is no pricing page on the site and none in its sitemap
- No free trial and no free plan for the platform itself; the only entry point is a commercial pilot
- No public API and no API documentation, so integration depends entirely on a proprietary SDK
- Embedding that SDK into your own application requires a development cycle on the customer side
- No iOS application, verified against both mobile stores; the companion app is Android only
- No security certification is claimed anywhere on the site, neither ISO 27001 nor SOC 2
- No data processing agreement and no subprocessor list are published, and the only contract on the site is the consumer app licence
Pricing & Plans
Netradar publishes no pricing. There is no pricing page on the website, and a full enumeration of its sitemap confirms that none exists. No amount, plan or billing unit is disclosed for the platform, which is sold through commercial contact: the site invites prospects to discuss a pilot project or to request a demonstration by email. There is consequently no identifiable entry price and no free trial announced for the platform. The one exception concerns the companion Android application, which is free: the end-user licence agreement states that no fees are charged in connection with that service, while noting that data transmission remains billable by the user's own mobile operator, particularly when roaming. The only monetary figure published anywhere on the site is a one hundred euro liability cap in that same licence agreement, which is a limitation of liability and not a price.
- the platform is sold through commercial contact
- after a pilot project
- Netradar Analytics — near real-time network analytics for optimisation and compliance (product line
- price not disclosed)
- Netradar Experience — customer-perceived quality and root-cause analysis (product line
- price not disclosed)
- Netradar Care — real-time complaint ticketing and customer care support (product line
- price not disclosed)
- Netradar Android application — free of charge
- usable as a proof of concept
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how Netradar handles your data.
GDPR overview
GDPR treatment is explicit and reasonably detailed for a company of this size. The privacy policy, effective 1 January 2026, states compliance with Finnish data protection law and with the GDPR, names Celltrum Ltd as controller at its Espoo address, and designates a data protection officer under Article 37. It enumerates the collected data categories, states the legal basis, names the categories of recipients, and lists the full set of data subject rights with a concrete exercise procedure based on a pseudonymous installation code. It also states that no name, phone number, IMSI or IMEI is collected, and that IP addresses are truncated. Two limits are worth noting: no data processing agreement and no subprocessor list are published anywhere on the site, and the policy addresses the end-user measurement service rather than the business platform.
Who owns the data?
The published privacy policy names Celltrum Ltd, trading as Netradar, as the data controller for end-user measurements, with a designated data protection officer, Jukka Manner, reachable at privacy@netradar.com. For business customers the position is different and is stated repeatedly on the commercial pages: measurement data lands in a private Netradar backend installed for the customer, and the site describes it as remaining under the customer's own ownership and control. End-user data may be shared with categories of partners named in the policy — mobile operators, telecom regulators, device makers, network vendors and application developers. Note that no business-to-business contract is published, so the customer-side ownership claim rests on marketing pages only.
Reuse rights
For end users, the privacy policy states that data serves to operate the service, improve the products, personalise the experience and to share analyses with partners, on the basis of legitimate interest, contract performance or consent. Direct marketing is excluded explicitly. Users keep the full set of GDPR rights, including access, rectification, erasure and portability, exercised by sending a pseudonymous installation code to privacy@netradar.com. The end-user licence agreement is markedly broader than the privacy policy suggests: by submitting material to the service, the user grants Celltrum a worldwide, sub-licensable, assignable, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable licence to use, copy, modify, distribute, sell and assign that material. Content supplied back to the user is licensed for personal, non-commercial purposes only, and reverse engineering is prohibited. Business customers are told their data sits in their own private backend, but no published contract confirms the terms of that arrangement.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
The site makes one explicit hosting statement, in section 5 of the privacy policy: Netradar data is stored within the European Union. No country is named, no cloud provider is named, and no subprocessor list is published anywhere on the site, so the statement cannot be narrowed further from published sources. For business customers the picture is deliberately different. The commercial pages state that Netradar is typically deployed in the operator's own private cloud environment or on virtual machines in its own data centre, and that customer data is stored in that private Netradar backend. The effective location of customer data therefore depends on the deployment the customer chooses rather than on a hosting decision made by the vendor. Buyers with data residency obligations should settle this contractually, since the site does not document it beyond the European Union statement covering end-user measurements.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting Netradar.
- The domain netradar.com is second-hand: it was registered in December 2004, dropped and re-registered through a backorder service, and its earliest archived captures have nothing to do with this product or this company
- Two live homonyms exist and are unrelated: netradar.io and netradar.ai serve a Danish e-commerce price monitoring tool, and an unrelated third-party iOS app carries a similar name
- The only contractual document published is the licence for the free consumer application; no business terms are published, so nothing contractual about the platform can be verified from the site
- That consumer licence grants the publisher a perpetual, irrevocable and sub-licensable right over submitted data, including the right to sell it
- The product depends on collecting continuous measurements from real handsets, which makes end-user transparency and consent an operational responsibility for the deploying customer, not only for the vendor
- Customer references are deliberately partly anonymised, so several claimed results cannot be attributed to an identifiable organisation
- No security certification, data processing agreement or subprocessor list is published, which leaves the compliance assessment entirely to the buyer's own due diligence
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Setup is a project, not a sign-up. Netradar installs a private backend remotely for the customer, typically in the customer's own private cloud or data centre. The customer then embeds a proprietary SDK into its own mobile application, which requires a development and release cycle on the customer side. A lighter route exists: deploying the free Netradar Android application instead of integrating the SDK, which suits a proof of concept. The vendor states that instrumenting around 3% of the user base is enough to be representative, which keeps the rollout modest.
Deployment
Apps stores
Supported languages
Behind Netradar
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Frequently asked questions
Who is behind Netradar?
How much does Netradar cost?
How does Netradar measure a network?
Does Netradar offer an API?
Is there a mobile application?
Where is the data hosted?
What data is collected from end users?
How long is data kept?
Does Netradar hold security certifications?
How long does a deployment take to set up?
Should you pick Netradar?
Netradar is a focused business-to-business tool for one industry, and it is unusually clear about its method. The hybrid measurement approach is described in technical terms, tied to a public standard, and supported by concrete figures on sampling volume and data overhead. The named references — NTT docomo at the Suzuka Grand Prix, T-Mobile US, Digita — and a TM Forum Rising Star Award in 2025 give the claims more substance than a vendor site usually offers.
The differentiator the company presses hardest is ownership. Because the backend is installed inside the customer's own private cloud or data centre, and because data is stated to remain within the European Union, Netradar positions itself against crowdsourcing services that keep the data themselves. For an operator or a regulator, that is a meaningful distinction rather than a marketing flourish.
Against this, the commercial and compliance picture is thin. There is no published price, no plan structure, no free trial and no self-service route of any kind: every path leads to a sales conversation. No data processing agreement and no subprocessor list are published, and no security certification is claimed anywhere — which at least has the merit of consistency, since nothing unverifiable is asserted either. The only contractual document on the site is the licence for the free consumer application, dated 2018, and it grants the publisher a strikingly broad and perpetual licence over submitted data. It does not govern the platform.
Netradar is therefore best judged by a buyer already inside the telecom sector, who can evaluate the measurement method on its merits and negotiate the contractual terms that the website leaves entirely unstated.
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