How Volunteers Are Selected
Last updated
Last updated
If you’ve recently signed up for a Whitebox, you may be wondering why you haven’t yet been selected to receive one. For voluntary projects, the selection process is dependent on the sample plan.
In this article we’ll explain what the sample plan is and how it affects you.
For more about the sign-up process, see Becoming a Volunteer.
A sample plan is a detailed outline of who and what each project is measuring.
Regulators often want to measure the most popular packages (aka broadband speed tiers – see Understanding your Broadband Package for more information about speed tiers) and the largest internet service providers (ISPs), as this helps them cover as much of the broadband market as possible.
Regulators (and often ISPs) get help from us to determine which of their packages are the most popular and which should be included in their studies. This allows them to choose a specific set of users who will be representative of the total group or population.
Here’s an example for you (the names and figures in this example are just for illustration):
Wakanda’s government regulator, Wakanda Telecoms Authority (WTA), wants to get an accurate picture of internet performance across the country.
It has ordered 2,500 Whiteboxes from us. It wants 50 Whiteboxes online per package.
There are ten ISPs in Wakanda. Out of this total, five ISPs cover at least 85% of the broadband market, so these five will be measured in a national sample plan.
Each of the five largest ISPs in Wakanda have between three and five packages available for customers to buy. Not all of these packages will be that popular with customers though – some might be old packages that the ISPs are moving people away from, while some might be newly released (e.g., faster packages).
WTA decides it will only look at the packages that have the top 80% of subscribers.
So, for example, GoGo Zoom offers five packages, or speed tiers:
Basic (5 Mbps download x 1 Mbps upload)
Fast (10 Mbps x 1 Mbps)
Family (50 Mbps x 5 Mbps)
Superfast (100 Mbps x 10 Mbps)
Lightning Fast (1 Gbps x 1 Gbps)
Family, Superfast and Basic are the most popular packages with 82% of all GoGo Zooms’ customers buying these. So, these are the packages that WTA will look to measure in a nationwide internet study.
Once WTA have the list of what they’re going to measure, they start to look at the who. The five ISPs in Wakanda begin to recruit volunteers to be part of the project. Volunteers who sign up and are selected will receive a Whitebox.
For instance:
100 volunteers sign up on the Superfast package – only 50 Whiteboxes within each speed tier can be sent out, so this package is over-subscribed. Packages do need topping up from time to time, though, so volunteers on the waiting list may be selected later on.
50 volunteers sign up on the Basic package – all volunteer requests can be fulfilled.
75 customers sign up on the Lightning Fast package – this tier isn’t in the sample plan, so no Whiteboxes are sent to them.
So, please understand that spaces are limited.
Sample plans are unique to each country. They may be revised regularly or at specific portions of the project.
Regulator projects are conducted over a long period of time, often years. Therefore, they look for users who are keen to be part of a long-term project.
The sample plan impacts volunteers in the following ways:
Sign-up selection is limited by your ISP and package.
Waiting list times will vary and some users may not be selected at all.
If the project is cancelled for any reason, waiting-list or replacement requests may not be fulfilled.
