{"id":5188,"date":"2023-02-11T00:49:22","date_gmt":"2023-02-11T00:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/11\/a-company-is-trying-to-map-americas-cell-networks-using-mail-trucks\/"},"modified":"2023-02-11T00:49:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T00:49:22","slug":"a-company-is-trying-to-map-americas-cell-networks-using-mail-trucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/11\/a-company-is-trying-to-map-americas-cell-networks-using-mail-trucks\/","title":{"rendered":"A company is trying to map America\u2019s cell networks using mail trucks"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Cell network coverage maps have always been dubiously accurate in the US, and even the ones released by the FCC in 2021<\/a> come with a ton of asterisks. A company called Ranlytics is hoping to make a much more accurate picture by attaching equipment to some of the mail trucks that are already driving to many locations in the US to deliver parcels and letters (via Light Reading<\/em><\/a>). The data it collects will provide info on coverage quality \u201cin a given town, on a given road, even at a given address\u201dsays the company\u2019s CEO Keith Sheridan in an interview with The Verge<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a press release earlier this week<\/a>, Ranlytics says it\u2019s working with the US Postal Service to measure AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon\u2019s 4G and 5G networks in Seattle and that it\u2019s already producing \u201cthe most detailed available\u201d coverage maps for select areas in the city. (It says the equipment it uses is also capable of mapping 3G networks, but those are largely gone in the US<\/a>.) The company also says that USPS vehicles repeating routes several days of the week lets it track coverage changes over time, finding both places where coverage doesn\u2019t exist and where there is coverage but a lackluster user experience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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