Ofcom has been promoting its free “Map Your Mobile” service, designed to help people identify which mobile network performs best in their area. On the surface, it sounds like a useful public service – enter a postcode and receive coverage and performance information for the UK’s major mobile networks. Most people see the word “free” and immediately think they are getting something for nothing. In reality, whenever a technology service is offered at no cost, a sensible question is: what is the provider getting in return because this question is worth examining carefully.
Map Your Mobile is a coverage and performance checker launched by Ofcom. Users can enter a postcode and compare the expected performance of networks such as EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. The aim is to help consumers choose the most suitable network for where they live, work and travel. Coverage information is displayed using detailed mapping down to 50-metre squares in many areas. This is where some confusion exists.
Ofcom’s own Map Your Mobile service is primarily a web-based tool. Users can access it through a browser and enter a postcode to view coverage information. The performance information shown by Ofcom partly comes from crowdsourced data supplied by Opensignal, a separate company that collects mobile performance information from users who have installed its software. If you are simply visiting the Ofcom website and typing in a postcode, Ofcom is not gaining access to your phone in the same way a dedicated installed app might.
What Can An Installed Mobile Mapping App Access?
This depends entirely on the permissions granted. Apps that collect mobile coverage and performance data often request access to:
• Location data (GPS position)
• Mobile network information
• Signal strength information
• Device type and operating system
• Network performance statistics
• Speed test results
• Movement and travel patterns
• Background location data if enabled
These permissions allow the app to build maps showing where networks perform well or poorly. Without location information, a coverage mapping app would be largely useless because it could not associate signal quality with a specific place.
What Is The Provider Getting In Return?
The answer is data, not necessarily personal data in the traditional sense, but valuable network performance data. But when thousands of us contribute signal readings, speed tests and location information, the organisation behind the service gains an extremely detailed picture of how mobile networks perform across the country and these data haves value. For Ofcom, the value lies in regulatory oversight and market analysis. The regulator can better understand where networks perform well and where they fail consumers. Ofcom states that the checker uses crowdsourced performance information alongside operator data. For commercial mapping providers, the data can also be used to create products, reports and analytics services.
The Pros
Consumers can compare networks before signing a contract and people moving home can check likely coverage before they move. However the tool provides more localised information than traditional coverage maps. Crowdsourced performance data can reveal issues that operator coverage maps alone may miss.
The Cons
Coverage predictions are still predictions and real-world experience may differ significantly: trees, buildings, weather, congestion and handset type can all affect results. Crowdsourced data relies on people contributing information, which can create gaps in less populated areas; performance scores may cover large postcode districts rather than an exact street or property; some users have reported results that do not match their real-life experience.
The Privacy Question
If you are only using Ofcom’s website to check a postcode, the privacy implications are fairly limited compared with installing a dedicated coverage-mapping application. However, if you install a mobile mapping app that continuously collects signal information, then location data becomes a key part of the service. The provider needs to know where you are to map coverage accurately; the crucial distinction is whether that information is:
• Anonymous or identifiable
• Collected only when the app is active
• Collected in the background
• Shared with third parties
Those answers vary between providers and should always be checked in the privacy policy.
The Bottom Line
The idea that “nothing is free” contains some truth, but it does not automatically mean something sinister is happening. Ofcom’s Map Your Mobile service exists to provide coverage information and improve transparency in the mobile market. The value being gained in return is largely better coverage intelligence and performance data rather than direct payment from users.
The sensible approach is the same for any free digital service: understand exactly what permissions are being granted, read the privacy information, and decide whether the exchange of data for functionality is one you are comfortable making. Free rarely means cost-free; sometimes the currency is information rather than money.
