Mobile Network and BroadBand Coverage Map

Abstract

netBravo is a crowd-sourcing app designed to gather and share radio spectrum data about mobile telephony coverage, WiFi channel occupancy, broadband quality and net neutrality (open internet) tests. Anyone with a recent smart phone can download netBravo which will automatically record the characteristics of the signal they are getting on their phone - WiFi, 4G, 3G, 2G or nothing in various locations as they move about. They can also test the latency, upload and download performance of their Internet connection with additional net neutrality tests which they can select. This data is saved locally to the phone and can be sent back to the netBravo research database server. The server then plots the aggregated, anonymised findings on a map, in an interactive web site (http://netbravo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/).

Furthermore, some of the most useful network tools are also included: LAN scan, SERVICE scan and Traceroute.

The app is free to download, does not contain any advertisements and it uses very little bandwidth and battery. The data is anonymised and will not collect or store any personal data.

It could tell us, for instance, whether our mobile networks are capable of delivering broadband connectivity in parts of the country where the fixed line service is patchy, whether coverage across cities is consistently good, and whether some operators are supplying a better service than others. It can help also enforcement agencies and EU Commission to better assess for example: - Are really the various cellular operators giving good signal strength overall of the full territory? - Are 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi channels fully crowded or there are still available space? - Is the 30Mb/s by 2020 broadband speed target of the EU Commission (RSPP Article 3.c of 243/2012/EU6) will be reached?