Round 2 Testing Finished!

A big THANK YOU to all of our intrepid testers who got the job done just in time before the first snowfall this past weekend. At this point, I'm going to disappear into the numbers cave for a few weeks to see how the results compare to the first round done in May.

Testing in the Dunes

It's hot even in October.

David Heading Home via GG Bridge in SF

Finished with Round 2, David heads home across the Golden Gate Bridge

Putting It All Together

Location: 2119

AT&T Netbook: 1,377 Kb/s up, 5,027 down
AT&T Smartphone: 1,259 Kb/s up, 3,835 down
T-Mobile Netbook: 191 Kb/s up, 48 down
T-Mobile Smartphone: 209 Kb/s up, 60 down
Verizon Netbook: 786 Kb/s up, 623 down
Verizon Smartphone: 1,004 Kb/s up, 589 down
Sprint: no effective service

In the Final Stretch!

Jeff at Site 1947 - video and results

Site: 1947
Date: October 5, 2012

  

   

Honey Lake, Drier than sandpaper, Hwy 395

Up at 5, 100 degrees, glad to have a placard...

Tyler Trips the Light Fandango -- with a sandwich

30% complete as of Friday

As of last Friday, Sep. 28, the testers had completed testing at 30% of the locations across the state. Great work everyone!!

And here are some more videos from the field:

1st week completed!

The testers have been sending in lots of photos and videos (a sample included here). More later on their progress.

Video of David finishing up in Humboldt County

Traffic jam outside of Paso Robles

near an Air Force Base

Mojave Desert

Napa County

Dense fog

Dead-end road near Clear Lake

2nd Round Mobile Testing Begins Today

The testers are back, and they are heading out on the road today to begin the second round of mobile broadband testing across the state. Summary data from the first round of testing is available for download from the CPUC's web site (see previous post), and we will soon be posting a staff report with analysis of that data.



Spring 2012 Mobile Test Data Now Available for Download

Summary results from all mobile testing done in the 1st Round is now available for download in Excel. Please click the following link:

• Spring 2012 Mobile Broadband Field Testing Summarized Results

Alternatively, you can visit the CPUC's web site and find the link under the heading "Mobile Broadband Drive-Test Project."

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/Telco/Information+for+providing+service/Broadband+Availability+Maps.htm

Preliminary Findings Now Available on Broadband Council web site

Yesterday at the California Broadband Council (CBC) meeting in the State Capitol, the CPUC presented its preliminary findings from the first round of mobile broadband field testing. They are available for download at the CBC web site at: http://broadbandcouncil.ca.gov/home.aspx

Testing Complete!

Thank you to the amazing job all eight testers did over the past 19 days of testing.

• 12,000 tests performed
• Over 35,000 miles driven
• Lots of valuable data for us to digest and analyze over the coming month

We'll update you as results become available.

Race to Land's End

As we wind up the final week of testing, some of the testers are finding themselves at beautiful locations along the long California coastline. Watch this short video from Annette, who is in Encinitas.

And below, a photo from David, who is further up the coast.

In the home stretch

As of last Friday, we've completed tests at 1,051 sites (88%). One week left of testing!

Mobile Now Generates 20% U.S. Web Traffic

According to a report by online advertising network Chitika, smartphones account for 14.6% and tablets 5.6% of total web traffic in the U.S. and Canada. And while we're on the topic of mobile broadband, here are some other interesting tidbits from Cisco's Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2011-2016:

• Last year's mobile data traffic was eight times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000. Global mobile data traffic in 2011 (597 petabytes per month) was over eight times greater than the total global Internet traffic in 2000 (75 petabytes per month).
• Mobile video traffic exceeded 50 percent for the first time in 2011. Mobile video traffic was 52 percent of traffic by the end of 2011.
• Mobile network connection speeds grew 66 percent in 2011. Globally, the average mobile network downstream speed in 2011 was 315 kilobits per second (kbps), up from 189 kbps in 2010. The average mobile network connection speed for smartphones in 2011 was 1344 kbps, up from 968 kbps in 2010.

This underscores the importance of validating and improving mobile broadband access across the state.

update from Chris

This one is a few days old, but we just got it in today:

Life on the Road and How To Get The Best Hotel Deals

We haven't heard from David for a while, so I thought I'd post his latest update here. You can also find this and his earlier posts on his page link to the right.

videos from Annette

Anza Borrego and further South where the California desert borders Mexico. Here, the serpent has made its home.

Below, the Mexican border

two photos from yesterday

2/3 of the way there. Keep on truckin'

Training on the drive testing apps

Here are a few pics I took during training in Chico several weeks before the testing began.

Over Halfway There as of Thursday!



What they're testing, what we're collecting

Photo courtesy of David, who is somewhere near Fresno by now. Four phones and four data cards. And lots of broadband availability data.

Desert Life

It's mid-May, and it's blazing hot out there. How hot is it? Chris reported 110 degress Farenheit. Annette is sending us desert pics as well. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Finals Week. AAARGH!

It's finals week for some of our testers, and we miss them already. Good luck on your exams!

Inching up to our goal

36% of the sites have been tested as of Monday. Keep up the good work!

More Video Updates from Chris and David

Check out Chris and David's pages (links to the right of this). Chris reports the temperature where he is testing was 110F yesterday and 100F today.

Meanwhile, David has been to the Lost Coast, Table Bluff Indian Reservation, and the College of the Redwoods. He reports he's on his 28th episode of "This American Life."

The Variety of Landscapes That Is California

Featuring photos from Annette, Jeff, Tyler, and David

 

End of the Road - Snow in May ??

Here, Tyler came to the point where safety trumps the best laid plans. The testing spot was further up road, but his car wasn't about to become an off-road vehicle, (and we don't want to lose any testers in the field!), so the mobile test happened right there.

New! Links to Video Logs from David & Chris

Check out the "pages" links to the right of this posting to see video updates from David and Chris. David just posted on Friday that he has downloaded all the episodes of "This American Life" since 2009 and has been listening to them non-stop. So far, he's heard 25 hours of "This American Life" and apparently is going to keep going as he begins Week 2 of mobile broadband drive testing. Once David is finished with his remaining points in the northern ends of the state, he'll be heading to the Bay Area.

Week 1: A Success!

Here are some key stats from the first week of mobile field testing. Truly a gargantuan undertaking by our amazing crew!

As of Thursday night (May 10):

• Over 24,000 tests performed
• Nearly 300 locations across the state (25% complete)
• 113 photos taken
• 2 videos (additional videos by David available on his Tumblr account)
• Thousands of miles driven

We are thrilled to see all the progress so far. The team has done an amazing job. Keep up the excellent work!

A few pictures I wanted to highlight.

How's that for serenity?

Pictures coming in now from Joe. Looks desolate!

Meanwhile, over on the coast it's easy living....