The Federal Network Agency has published its first radio hole card for Germany. This means that the data that users of the broadband measurement app of the Federal Network Agency have collected about the quality of mobile communications in their area can now be accessed online and in graphical form.
By entering an address, the network coverage values determined by the users on the website can be viewed on the website and compared, for example, with the results obtained with the app itself on site, the agency explains.
The measurement application of the Federal Network Agency, simply called "broadband measurement", is better known to many as a radio hole app and is therefore found both in the App Store for iPhones and in the Play Store for Android phones, if you enter the term "radio hole" in the search mask ,
According to the Federal Network Agency, the app has been installed on smartphones 187,000 times since its introduction. In total, users have so far generated and transmitted almost 160 million measurement points as the basis for the radio hole card.
Restricted view of the net
When looking at the map, it should be noted that the map can not give definitive information about the network technologies available on the spot, as it can always make its measurements only in the network booked by the user and within the framework of the respective mobile phone contract. Although the app can basically differentiate between the availability of 2G (GSM), 3G (UMTS), 4G (LTE) and 5G, it only "sees" a 3G network, for example, if the user uses a mobile phone contract restricted to this technology ,
On the basis of the measured data collected by the users, it will be discussed with the mobile service providers, where the networks still need to be improved.
In order to check the fixed-network data transmission rates contractually agreed with the provider, the Federal Network Agency also provides programs for Windows, macOS and Linux computers.
