Vodafone Coverage Data

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Zeon

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#74063 25-Dec-2010 13:45

Hey guys,
I'm working on a web application which is a database of remotely deployed devices that need to connect to a mobile network to call back to base. I'm wanting to overlay the Google Map where its positioned with the coverage maps of Vodafone (we should be able to chose GPRS, 3g 2100mhz or 3g 900mhz or a mixture thereof). I'm wondering if Vodafone release this data (KML?).

I notice that the National Broadband Map have this data? Anyone know about this?

Same goes for Telecom XT.

Cheers

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quickymart

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#421507 25-Dec-2010 16:53

They have this information on their website which runs off Google Maps, don't they?

http://www.vodafone.co.nz/coverage/

BarTender

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#421551 25-Dec-2010 22:30

I sucked my data out of the RSM database, Check my blog entry in my sig.

Zeon

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#421556 25-Dec-2010 22:47

Thanks for the info guys. The reason I want the data is I want to overlay the maps in the application itself so for example they can check straight away whether the place is within coverage of which networks rather than having to go to another site and search.

The RSM database does look interesting but probably not as user friendly as the Vodafone maps themselves. I looked at the code and it seems they call the data from these guys:
http://www.optimap.co.nz/

I have asked to talk to the Vodafone account manager to see if they can provide an official channel.

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BarTender

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#421600 26-Dec-2010 09:23

Zeon: Thanks for the info guys. The reason I want the data is I want to overlay the maps in the application itself so for example they can check straight away whether the place is within coverage of which networks rather than having to go to another site and search.

Right, so being able to enter in your street address and then much like Vodafone and woosh do say your coverage is good/average/bad etc. I think the KML's I have built do help, but not down to the street lookup level... I am sure something can be done in Google maps reasonably easily!

Zeon: The RSM database does look interesting but probably not as user friendly as the Vodafone maps themselves. I looked at the code and it seems they call the data from these guys:
http://www.optimap.co.nz/

I have asked to talk to the Vodafone account manager to see if they can provide an official channel.

The issue you will face is "technically" all the legit data you need is in the RSM database since that specifies the tx frequencies, area and all that goodness, but you will need to massage it into the format you want. And the fact it's supplied by the govt and it's "open" data IMHO means it's the only real useable source and you won't run into issues about how it gets used.

Getting this sort of data out of Telecom/Vodafone or 2Degrees since they will (or should) know the exact physical location, panel specific information and how they have tweaked their tx's "may" be possible, but I am sure they would each require an NDA if it were even possible and wouldn't really want their data to be used to push customers to other networks... Since then your whole project would be stuffed... so ... Good luck with that.

johnr

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#421604 26-Dec-2010 09:41

Zeon: Thanks for the info guys. The reason I want the data is I want to overlay the maps in the application itself so for example they can check straight away whether the place is within coverage of which networks rather than having to go to another site and search.

The RSM database does look interesting but probably not as user friendly as the Vodafone maps themselves. I looked at the code and it seems they call the data from these guys:
http://www.optimap.co.nz/

I have asked to talk to the Vodafone account manager to see if they can provide an official channel.?

Vodafone pays a big license fee to have the maps up like they have and the coverage data is not taken from optimap but a internal db that can only be used by the Engineering team in Vodafone NZ

A Vodafone account manager will not be able to provide this data for public use

John

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#421608 26-Dec-2010 09:50

johnr: Vodafone pays a big license fee to have the maps up like they have and the coverage data is not taken from optimap but a internal db that can only be used by the Engineering team in Vodafone NZ

A Vodafone account manager will not be able to provide this data for public use

And you will have a similar response from Telecom and 2Degrees for exactly the same reason.

Cheers John for confirming what I had already said.

And how hard is it to load up Google Earth, Adding a Network Link under Places with the All Sites KML and then browse to your house and see what's around.

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Zeon

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#421655 26-Dec-2010 17:56

Hi JohnR, thanks for the confirmation of Bartender's statements. I may try to just grab the map that you guys have on your website and then use some Javascript to pass the address into it.

And Bartender, its a really useful resource don't get me wrong but the customer in question basically wants the same level of user friendliness as the Vodafone coverage map has. Some of their remote equipment is in the middle of the whoops (quite literally), if it weren't they probably would just assume that they will be in coverage.

I think I can embed the Telecom XT map quite easily but we will see with the Vodafone. I'll report back on this thread with a method of doing this if I can figure it out.

Cheers.

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Zeon

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#421659 26-Dec-2010 19:01

OK, just had a look at XT and this is looking quite easy as long as you use their map. On their website, Telecom put the map in an iframe which makes it super easy to move onto your own web app. I just need to pass it some values with some Javascript and its gonna work great:
http://tcnz.smobile.co.nz/xt

Sure its not the same map but thats OK. Not so sure on the Vodafone one though, I might look at Iframing the whole coverage webpage and then use some scripting to cut out all the stuff around that isn't needed and pass the address to the map.

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raytaylor

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#421695 26-Dec-2010 21:50

Think about the maintainence of the software for your customer when you do this.
If vodafone change the URL to the map pages, you are going to have to send a new release of your software to your customer so they can continue to use it.

Ray Taylor

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Zeon

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#421706 26-Dec-2010 22:28

raytaylor: Think about the maintainence of the software for your customer when you do this.
If vodafone change the URL to the map pages, you are going to have to send a new release of your software to your customer so they can continue to use it.

Don't worry, this was the first thing I thought of. I made it abundantly clear to the customer that should I not be able to get proper mapping data and I need to use this method I will not make any guarantees it will continue to work after deployment. They were OK with this.

Man, it would be so useful if Vodafone/Telecom just released this data or even had a basic API that you could use to check expected signal quality at an address or co-ordinates.

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johnr

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#421715 26-Dec-2010 22:57

The Vodafone NZ coverage map gets updated at the end of each month

John

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raytaylor

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#421767 27-Dec-2010 08:46

its not really the coverage map getting updated the customer would be worried about, its the website layout in general. The coverage map page could be moved if they decide to mak the vodafone website ever easy to use

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