Case Study: Improving Disaster Response and Planning with Accurate Mobile Coverage Data

When floods, bushfires or other natural disasters strike, mobile blackspots and areas impacted by poor coverage can hamper disaster response and endanger lives and property.  Central Coast Council in NSW needed a precise understanding of mobile network coverage in areas within their Local Government Area (LGA) prone to natural disasters like bushfires and floods, such as the Gunderman/Spencer areas and other communities along Wisemans Ferry Road. Council requires accurate and reliable mobile coverage data to effectively manage public safety, support disaster resilience and response, and guide planning decisions. 

But they faced a problem: existing mobile coverage maps and data were neither accurate, nor reliable. Council needed a more robust solution.

And that wasn’t all. 

An essential requirement was integrating mobile coverage data into Council's GIS System – a geospatial tool that combines multiple datasets, such as population distribution, disaster planning, and flood prediction, to enable better decision-making. Council engaged Ranlytics to deliver highly accurate, frequent coverage and service quality maps and data for all Telstra, Optus, and TPG 3G, 4G, and 5G networks on and around Wisemans Ferry road, through an ingenious 3-part solution. 

Part 1 – Measuring coverage with the DRIVE+ solution

To address Council's needs, Ranlytics deployed its unique DRIVE+ solution, which accurately measures mobile network quality using devices installed on mail delivery vehicles operated by a local licensed post office (LPO). 

On the road most days of the week, the LPO’s vehicles provided an ideal platform for Ranlytics's LURA network measurement devices. These fully autonomous devices gather highly detailed, precise network coverage and service quality data on all routes travelled by the LPO vehicles – with zero input required from the drivers.

"This aspect of the solution was crucial as it ensured that we were seeing the data in real time, says Matthew Corradin, Unit Manager Environmental Compliance Services at Central Coast Council."

With DRIVE+ installed, these LPO vehicles are not just delivering mail – they’re capturing data that helps protect the community.

Part 2 – User-friendly access to coverage maps and data

Council can easily access and analyse data through intuitive, browser-based tools accessible to both technical and non-technical personnel. This capability allows them to:

• Accurately identify the location and severity of mobile blackspots.

• Check that mobile operators have resolved these black spots.

• See exactly how coverage is changing over time.

• Determine which mobile operator offers the best quality coverage at every address.

Additionally, the data is periodically exported to Council's GIS System, ensuring that Council and the community, benefit from knowing the state of mobile coverage along Wisemans Ferry Road.

Setting a Global Standard for mobile coverage data

Thanks to this project, Central Coast Council now benefits from the most accurate and most up-to-date mobile coverage and service quality data available anywhere in the world. This delivers significant benefits to Council and the Central Coast community in two key ways:

1. Enhanced public safety: Armed with accurate mobile coverage information, the Council is better able to plan for, and manage response to, emergencies and public safety threats. 

2. Improved planning: The detailed and accurate mobile coverage data enables quicker and better-informed planning decisions, particularly when it is seamlessly combined with the many other datasets that Council already has access to.

"This project clearly demonstrates the value of accurate, up-to-date mobile service quality data to local government, and the benefits of using postal and other fleets to measure coverage automatically and frequently," says Ranlytics CEO, Keith Sheridan.

The success of this project demonstrates the effectiveness of the Ranlytics DRIVE+ and KALLO solutions, which are simple, fast, scalable, easily deployable and cost-effective. 

Together, they deliver the highest quality mobile network coverage and service quality data available anywhere in the world, and user-friendly tools that allow that data to be easily used by both technical and non-technical local government users to enhance disaster responsiveness and community resilience.

This project was jointly funded by the Australian and NSW Government under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.