Bin Lorries to Help Map Mobile Network Coverage in Tees Valley

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) in North East England, which covers several council areas (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees), has signed a new deal with digital mapping specialists Inakalum to deploy special kit on local bin lorries (refuse collection trucks) to map local 4G and 5G mobile (broadband) coverage.

The idea of harnessing refuse collection trucks to help map mobile network coverage and data speeds is not a new one. Streetwave have been doing it across a large part of the UK for the past couple of years. But today’s news marks the first time we’ve seen Inakalum adopt a similar approach, which involves sticking Smartphones installed with special monitoring software on top of the vehicles and taking measurements as they go about their routes.

The collected data, which will examine all four of the major mobile networks (EE, O2 and Vodafone / Three UK), will then be used to create the “most detailed and accurate picture yet” of mobile phone coverage across Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees.

The results from this will help the TVCA to both identify any areas of poor reception for future improvement and to provide a new Tees Valley Mobile Coverage Checker, which should help local residents, businesses and public services understand signal quality in their area.

Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, said:

“We’re already delivering on jobs, investment and regeneration — and now we need to go further to tackle digital blackspots that hold back people and businesses.

Whether you’re on a farm in East Cleveland or running a business in Darlington, decent signal shouldn’t be a luxury – it should be the bare minimum.

If we want to build on our potential as a digital powerhouse, we need to make sure everyone is properly connected.”

In addition to bin wagons, the TVCA has the option to expand the surveys using other vehicles — or even survey on foot — to target key locations, events, or rural communities where signal performance is a known issue. Residents and local groups are now being encouraged to get in touch and express an interest if there are specific areas or upcoming events that could benefit from additional mobile signal mapping.

At the time of writing, we don’t know when the first survey will be completed and the new map made available, although it will be interesting to see whether this is able to go beyond previous efforts by similar companies.