AT&T, T-Mobile Fight Speed Tests that Could Prove their Mobile Coverage Maps Wrong
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:
AT&T, T-Mobile fight speed tests that could prove their coverage maps wrong;:
The carriers' objections came in response to the FCC seeking comment on a plan to improve the nation's inadequate broadband maps. Besides submitting more accurate coverage maps, the FCC plan would require carriers to do a statistically significant amount of drive testing.
"In order to help verify the accuracy of mobile providers' submitted coverage maps, we propose that carriers submit evidence of network performance based on a sample of on-the-ground tests that is statistically appropriate for the area tested," the FCC proposal issued in July 2020 said.
This could prevent repeats of cases in which carriers exaggerated their coverage in FCC filings, which can result in government broadband funding not going to the areas where it is needed most. Small carriers that compete against the big three in rural areas previously had to conduct drive tests at their own expense in order to prove that the large carriers didn't serve the areas they claimed to serve.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai did not punish Verizon, T-Mobile, and US Cellular after finding that the carriers exaggerated their 4G coverage in official filings. But Pai is moving ahead with plans to require more accurate maps as mandated by Congress.
Previously:
(2019-12-05) FCC Says Wireless Carriers Lie about Coverage 40% of the Time
(2019-11-23) Verizon's New 5G Coverage Maps Show Just How Sparse the Network Is
(2019-02-17) "These Maps are Bogus": U.S. Lawmakers Tear Into Telecom Execs Over Spotty Rural Coverage
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