Australia Post is being involved to test the quality of the country’s mobile network. Ultimately, over the next three years, 180,000 kilometers of road will be driven each year to determine how good the radio signals are, what data bandwidth and latency are achieved, and whether SMS and phone calls work. Since the Post Office travels many of these roads anyway, their vehicles are now equipped with cell phones, GPS antennas and small computers.
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Google Play: Judge imposes conditions on Google’s app business in the United StatesIt collects the data required for quality testing. The commercially available Samsung cell phone (S23) is used separately for each of the three Australian network operators Optus, Telstra and Vodafone. Both cars are used for local mail delivery and trucks for long distance transportation. The project is conducted by Accenture on behalf of the Australian Federal Government. This information is complemented by crowdsourced data from 77 fixed measurement stations in post offices as well as from actual mobile phone users. 4G and 5G networks are being tested; 3G (UMTS) will be deactivated on 28 October.
Australia promotes switch from satellite to FWA
The quality measurement is part of a billion-dollar project by the Australian federal government to improve network coverage in rural areas. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says, “Every Australian deserves access to reliable mobile coverage, no matter where they live.” Measures include mandatory mobile communications for new settlements.
The largest portion, A$480 million, is intended to convert 120,000 homes currently served by satellite internet to fixed wireless access (FWA). This should give each connected person at least 100 Mbit/s bandwidth, 85 percent even 250 Mbit/s bandwidth. A small portion of the budget ($30 million) is reserved for improving field coverage to promote connected agriculture. Additional measures bring the project volume to a total of $1.1 billion (approximately 691 million euros) of federal funds, as well as contributions from individual Australian states.
Accenture first looks at signal strength (Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP), signal-to-noise ratio (specifically Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio, SINR), call setup success rate, Internet access success rate, SMS transmission, data bandwidth. And measures. round trip time. During the three-month pilot phase, measurements will be taken only in certain postal vehicles and post offices. This will be followed by the actual study, which will be conducted three times until mid-2027. More vehicles on more roads should collect more parameters; In addition, measurements are also made outdoors and with better antennas, but not indoors. Apparently there is no provision to differentiate between a “real” mobile phone signal and a signal delivered through a personal amplifier system.
A rough summary of the crowdsourced data is already available on a map publishedHeise Online has contacted Accenture for more information about the crowdsourcing methodology and will add it to this article if necessary.
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