FCC To Probe Whether Carriers Gave Inaccurate Broadband Coverage Data (zdnet.com)

The FCC is launching an investigation into whether one or more major carriers gave the agency inaccurate maps of their broadband coverage, violating the rules of an initiative that provides subsidies for rural coverage. ZDNet reports: The initiative, called the Mobility Fund Phase II program "can play a key role in extending high-speed Internet access to rural areas across America," he continued. "In order to reach those areas, it's critical that we know where access is and where it is not."

The initiative is reallocating $4.5 billion in previously-approved funding to bring high-speed mobile broadband service to rural Americans over the course of 10 years. The agency is using a competitive reverse auction to distribute the funds to private providers. To determine eligibility, mobile providers were required to submit current, standardized coverage data.

Comments

Re:Ha!

[Plus1Entropy]

Not to defend ISPs/telecoms but... it's very possible that you can have a good signal but not a good connection. The value shown on your phone comes from the RSSI, which is measured at the phone. It tells you how strongly you see the tower, but it doesn't mean the tower also sees you just as well.

Now, of course there's a bit of handshaking so that the phone can tell the difference, but there are a lot of reasons this may not work correctly in specific circumstances. The phone could "think" there's a good connection, until you actually try to push any real data through it and suddenly it tanks. There may also be an asymmetry in the direction (e.g. you can transmit faster than you can receive). The bars you see are only an indication of how good the connection should be, based on what the phone and tower can measure about each other's signals... but it's not exact.

It's kinda like if you measure a resistor and you say "Ok that's 1ohm, so if I put 1V on it I should get 1A through it." Except the second you actually put 1A through the resistor it heats up which means the resistance goes up and suddenly the current starts dropping (assuming in this case you are using a constant voltage supply). It doesn't mean your ohmmeter lied to you - or that Ohm's Law is wrong, it just means that the system under load behaves differently.

The fact that you indicate it's a specific location (i.e. exact street corners) indicates that it's probably something environmental which is causing what you're seeing.

Verizon is probably full of shit about a lot of things... but this isn't necessarily one of them.