Austrian Post has deployed Ranlytics’ mobile network coverage measurement tool across its network in Austria.
The capability will soon be extended to mail delivery vehicles to measure mobile network coverage at the individual address level. The decision to use Austrian Post’s vehicle fleet was made to eliminate the need for each of the mobile operators to deploy their own vehicles – saving costs, time and carbon emissions.
This approach is designed to provide insights into the quality of mobile network coverage and identify the location of all black spots and all areas on or near these roads affected by poor-quality voice calls and mobile data connectivity.
All A1, Magenta and Drei Telecom 3G and 4G networks are to be measured daily on highways and main arterial roads in the vicinity of Vienna, and between Vienna and Salzburg, between Vienna and Graz, and between Vienna and Laa an der Thaya.
The technology will be upgraded shortly to measure all three mobile operators’ 5G networks. In 2022, the companies will begin equipping postal delivery vehicles with Ranlytics’ technology to measure mobile coverage at the residential, commercial and rural address levels. Ultimately, the aim is to equip all 8,000 of Austrian Post’s vehicles with the ability to continuously measure mobile coverage on every road and street, in every city and town throughout the country.
The information is accessible to telecommunications engineers and also – in a simplified form via easy-to-use map-based browser screen – non-engineers at government agencies, commercial customers and other organizations interested in understanding mobile network coverage.
Felix Slavik, vice president of project management and innovation in parcel and logistics at Austrian Post, said, “The measurement of mobile phone network coverage is closely aligned with Austrian Post’s charter and its goal of using its fleet for more than logistics services. Gathering additional data like temperature, air pressure or, in this case, mobile network quality and coverage further enhances Austrian Post’s footprint as a unique service provider.”
Keith Sheridan, CEO of Ranlytics, said, “The trial delivers a step-change in understanding critical network coverage. Mobile networks are very dynamic, and coverage and quality can change significantly from week to week and over distances as small as 2m. The only way to truly understand how each network is performing at a particular location is to measure all networks using specialized equipment at that location. That must be done frequently given how much these networks are continuously changing.”
Ranlytics Advisory Board
 Elmar Toime has joined the Ranlytics Advisory Board. He has decades of global experience in the postal sector, including nearly 10 years as CEO of NZ Post. He was executive deputy chair of Royal Mail and a member of Deutsche Post DHL’s Supervisory Board for 10 years. He is also a non-executive director of Qatar Postal Services Company. Ranlytics expects Toime’s relationships with postal providers to assist the company as it seeks to build on its existing partnerships with providers such as Austrian Post to deploy groundbreaking widescale mobile coverage and quality measurement and mapping solutions.
Sheridan said, “Elmar is tremendously knowledgeable about the global postal industry and about how many postal providers are evolving their operational models. We’re absolutely thrilled to have Elmar as part of the Ranlytics team and to be able to benefit from that knowledge and his deep relationships throughout the industry globally. Our advisory board is critical to our ongoing success, and Elmar will help ensure that we continue to challenge conventional thinking and embrace ideas that will improve outcomes for our customers and our partners globally.”
