Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Public Service (PSD) on Thursday announced that it has released results of a drive test, conducted in conjunction with the Agency of Transportation (AOT), to determine mobile wireless coverage throughout the state.
“Access to mobile wireless service is a top priority for Vermonters, for this Administration, and for the Department,” said PSD Commissioner June Tierney. “We all know that there are many areas of the state that lack service. The drive tests will help to identify those areas so we can prioritize them for new coverage.”
The drive tests are a collaboration between the PSD and the AOT, which conducted the driving.
“Identifying areas that lack service is a critical step toward the expansion and improvement of mobile wireless service around the state, and we are glad to have contributed to that effort,” said Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn. “Our Maintenance employees have driven over 6,500 miles this summer to gather data for our partners at PSD to use for this project.”
To conduct the analysis, the State of Vermont partnered with Ookla®, a global leader in network intelligence and connectivity insights. “We are confident that Ookla’s industry-leading Wind drive-test solution and Speedtest application will provide results that the State can rely on to identify areas that lack coverage,” said Ookla VP of Smart Communities, Bryan Darr.
Mobile wireless consumers also participated in the effort by conducting their own tests.
Residents used the Ookla Speedtest® app to test the speed and performance of their mobile internet connection. Ookla will include the results of all consumer mobile wireless tests conducted with the Ookla Speedtest mobile app with the results of the PSD and AOT drive tests.
2022 Mobile Wireless Test Results
The results of the 2022 Mobile Wireless Drive Test, which evaluated voice and data service in the state for six different mobile wireless providers, are described in the Report. The Report includes printable maps depicting the results for each provider. Results of the test are best viewed on the interactive map linked below. The map depicts hexagons that are shaded to show the coverage identified within that area. The map depicts the Drive Test results in 12 separate layers, with separate maps for voice, data, and each provider. Users can manually enable the layers they wish to view, one layer at a time.
For voice service, each map shows hexagons in the following colors:
- Green: Good Coverage – All calls completed
- Gray: Some Coverage – Only some calls completed
- Red: Poor Coverage – No calls completed
For data service, each map shows hexagons in the following colors:
- Green: Good Coverage – Average download speed more than 5 Mbps
- Gray: Some Coverage – Average download speed less than 5 Mbps
- Red: Poor Coverage – All speed tests failed to complete
The map also has a pop-up function. Clicking on a hexagon will depict the average results for all tests conducted in that hexagon. Clicking on an individual point will depict the results for that individual test.
2022 Mobile Wireless Drive Test results interactive map
https://vtpsd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=c51d9226aa5e404b876db7cf60b5461f
The PSD website mobile wireless page here is:
https://publicservice.vermont.gov/telecommunications-and-connectivity/mobile-wireless-drive-test
For more information on how to participate please visit the PSD website https://publicservice.vermont.gov/content/mobile-wireless-drive-test
12.15.2022. Montpelier, VT – Vermont Department of Public Service
