Cell providers in the US are currently in a race to deploy LTE coverage across the country and hopefully win over new customers while retaining existing customers. American mobile users are increasingly depending on high-quality cellular data services. Each provider has an official coverage map on their company website, but customers will be interested in more recent coverage data to follow the LTE rollout in areas where the service has not yet arrived or is lacking.
A popular community-based cell coverage mapping system is provided by Sensorly (www.sensorly.com). Data is collected by cell users with the Sensorly mobile app, available for download for most mobile devices.
- Sensorly Android app (play.google.com)
- Sensorly iOS app (itunes.apple.com)
One of the interesting ongoing deployments is Sprint’s LTE rollout. You can track the latest coverage according to sensorly at http://www.sensorly.com/map/4G/US/USA/Sprint/lte_310sprint and compare it to the coverage maps on sprint.com which will receive less frequent updates as the carrier decides the official coverage data is ready to release.
These types of independent coverage tracking sites are extremely helpful to customers interested in reviewing coverage areas and performance for a current or prospective cell provider.
Notes by Tom 