The BBC is hoping to harness an army of Android phone owners across Britain to build a map of mobile coverage. In a project running for the next month, it aims to map this country’s 3G and 2G data service using an Android app to automatically collect information on hotspots and notspots.
While mobile operators have their own coverage maps, the BBC believes the survey will be the first independent analysis of its kind. Read on for details on how you can take part in the project…
The idea of harnessing a crowd to collate data on mobile coverage isn’t new. Last year, Vodafone created a Twitter coverage map by getting customers to manually submit their current location and signal. The difference with the BBC survey is that it aims to grab data from across all the UK phone networks and will do it automatically.
To take part, you just need to have an Android phone and grab the UK 3G Survey app from the link below. The app will then automatically report anonymised info on data coverage back to the Beeb and its partner in the project, network analysis firm Epitiro. If you’re concerned about your data allowance, the BBC says the app is designed to operate at very low bandwidth.
After the month-long survey, the BBC will publish a clickable map of UK data coverage. You can also see the current coverage stats for any UK location by clicking on the map within the UK 3G Survey Android app. Let us know what you think of the project in the comments and whether you plan to take part.
Out now | £free | Android Marketplace (via BBC)
