Accenture has announced plans to acquire Ookla, a leading network intelligence and customer experience analytics company best known for its popular platforms Speedtest and Downdetector.
The acquisition reflects the growing importance of network performance in shaping modern customer experiences. Today, factors such as latency, connectivity stability, and signal strength are just as critical as the digital platforms and applications customers use. By bringing Ookla into its ecosystem, Accenture aims to strengthen its ability to help enterprises monitor, design, and optimize the networks that power digital interactions.
With this move, Accenture will integrate Ookla’s advanced network intelligence, benchmarking capabilities, and experience analytics into its broader data and AI capabilities. This integration will support communications service providers, hyperscale cloud companies, and enterprises in improving the performance and reliability of Wi-Fi and 5G networks, which form the backbone of modern digital services.
For millions of users worldwide, Ookla’s Speedtest and Downdetector platforms are go-to tools for checking internet performance or identifying service outages. Accenture plans to harness this extensive network data, combined with artificial intelligence, to help organizations identify potential connectivity issues and resolve them before they impact end users.
As part of the integration, Accenture intends to incorporate Ookla’s suite of solutions—including Speedtest, Downdetector, Ekahau, and RootMetrics—into its enterprise offerings. Together, these tools provide organizations with deeper visibility into network health, real-world user experiences, and outage detection, enabling more proactive management of digital infrastructure.
Commenting on the acquisition, Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture, said that modern networks have evolved from being simple infrastructure to becoming critical business platforms. She noted that organizations need reliable performance data to improve customer experience, revenue outcomes, and security. By adding Ookla’s capabilities, Accenture aims to help businesses and government institutions strengthen their data foundations while enabling them to scale AI-driven solutions safely and deliver consistent connectivity.
Networks Now at the Heart of Customer Experience
The acquisition also highlights a shift in how customer experience (CX) is managed. Traditionally handled by IT and network teams, network performance has now become a major factor influencing customer satisfaction. As digital services and AI-powered platforms expand, even minor connectivity issues can quickly translate into poor customer experiences, failed transactions, or reputational damage.
Manish Sharma, Accenture’s Chief Strategy and Services Officer, emphasized that in today’s environment of omnichannel services and intelligent digital interactions, reliable and low-latency connectivity has become essential for businesses to stay competitive. Tools that provide deeper visibility into network performance help organizations build more resilient digital environments.
Beyond telecommunications, network intelligence is increasingly influencing outcomes across multiple industries. As AI adoption accelerates, insights collected from network, device, and application layers are becoming crucial for improving security and operational efficiency.
For example, in the banking sector, companies such as Transaction Network Services (TNS) are using network-level intelligence and AI to secure voice communication in contact centers. By analyzing network attributes alongside real-time call behavior, organizations can verify whether calls originate from legitimate devices and networks, helping detect fraudulent attempts before they reach agents.
Similarly, in retail environments, reliable connectivity directly affects in-store mobile payments, digital inventory systems, and customer engagement tools. In sectors such as utilities and smart home services, stable networks enable companies to shift from reactive support models to proactive service delivery. When network performance falters, the customer experience suffers as well.
Ookla’s platform collects extensive data across the device, application, and network layers—capturing more than 1,000 data points during each network test. Accenture intends to leverage this large dataset to power AI-driven insights and decision-making for enterprises.
The company highlighted several ways deeper network intelligence could benefit organizations. Communications service providers could move toward more autonomous network operations using predictive analytics to reduce costs and improve reliability. Hyperscale cloud providers would gain better visibility into the performance and resilience of AI infrastructure and edge data centers. Meanwhile, enterprises deploying private 5G or advanced Wi-Fi networks would be able to identify and resolve performance issues before they disrupt employees or customers.
Sharma added that the combined portfolio of Ookla’s products will provide end-to-end network intelligence. Platforms such as Speedtest and RootMetrics offer detailed performance measurement, Downdetector enables rapid incident detection, and Ekahau helps organizations enhance Wi-Fi infrastructure to support modern digital workplaces.
Founded in 2006, Ookla operates as a division of Ziff Davis and has built one of the world’s most extensive network data platforms. The system processes over 250 million consumer-initiated tests every month, supplemented by controlled testing methods that deliver valuable insights into service quality and user experience.
Stephen Bye, CEO of Ookla, said that joining Accenture will enable the company to expand its network intelligence capabilities to a broader range of global enterprises. He added that the combined strengths of both organizations will help support communications providers, AI infrastructure platforms, edge data centers, and enterprise networks more effectively.
The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals, and financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
