Coverage
A "Wireless Solutions Fast Start" Article

One key consideration to providing a wireless service to consumers or employees is coverage.  This article talks about some of the places where cellular voice + data coverage may be a problem, and how to respond to the situation. 

The build-out of 2.5G / 3G services has shown rapid advance over the past year, and you should consult the carriers' coverage maps for the latest status.

Some regions were lucky in having a data-only network called CDPD several years before the 2.5G / 3G networks with good coverage within and outside the cities. Current 2.5 and 3G systems now pretty well cover the CDPD coverage area, and CDPD (always a regional option) is being phased out in favour of the more modern systems. Satellite is an option that is being used where 2.5 / 3G is unavailable. 

The carriers' coverage maps show uniformly coloured region around cities, with the qualifier that actual coverage may depend on topography and time of day.  This is true.  Everyone has anecdotal evidence of dead-spots in their office, places where coverage does not exist or exists only if the device is rotated like an old-fashioned transistor set.  There are also bunkers, shielded areas, and underground facilities, where cellular coverage is unavailable.

In addition to technical limitations, there are locations where a "device-off" policy is in effect, because of the risk of interference with equipment, or security concerns.   These include areas of hospitals and doctor's offices, airports, etc.

Finally, jamming has been debated and many jurisdictions have ruled on the illegality of jamming devices.  This is no guarantee that they won't be used, just that they are illegal.

Enterprises can respond to these realities in a variety of ways, depending on the applications they are trying to deliver over the networks.  A company providing weather information may be less concerned about coverage than one providing technical support wirelessly to its field technicians.  The former may be pleased enough to provide the service where coverage is available.  The latter may need a richer strategy. 

One popular strategy is to allow mobile workers to operate in offline or in disconnected mode until they are back in coverage range.  Take as an example a meter reader who uses a handheld device to capture meter readings which are sent wirelessly to head office. When he is out of coverage range, he can continue to read meters and store the information on his device until wireless coverage is re-established, at which time the data can be sent wirelessly back to the main system. Again, this may not be adequate in certain time-sensitive jobs, for example an application involving dispatching a field technician based on work complete.  In this case, an alternative backup channel may be needed, such as using a cell phone, pager, or regular telephone to notify the dispatcher.

Solutions that involve offline or disconnected mode require greater development effort than wireless web applications, as an application and data store will have to reside on the mobile device.  In contrast, wireless web solutions involve applications and data stored on a corporate server.

 Another solution is to use voice to interact with applications.  Voice has good cellular and even better landline coverage.  The current state of voice technologies let you interact with a voice response system to query information from a system, or even enter data via voice.

In summary, different geographies of interest to you may be covered by different networks, or by none at all, and your response to this might have to involve a well thought-out mix of technologies.

 

Martin Stares is a respected speaker, author and coach in the field of wireless solutions and strategy for business, helping companies find innovative wireless solutions for their organizations. For more information and resources, visit Greyfriars Consulting Group at www.greyfriars.net. Read other articles in this series This article is one of a series call Wireless Solutions Fast Start, a course helping companies and individuals understand the business uses of wireless technologies. Visit www.greyfriars.net for other articles in this course. Free content for your web site Would you like to add this article and many others to your web site at no cost? The Greyfriars Wireless Solutions articles may be used on your site as long as the following conditions are met. The full content and links of each article must be used. The author and copyright notice must stay intact. The last paragraph describing the author and their business along with the link to their web site must be intact. If you do use one of our articles, drop us a line at enquiries@greyfriars.net so we can visit your site.