Mapping the mobile landscape: American Roamer finding new opportunities in evolving space

It seems like nowadays you can’t throw a mobile phone without hitting a television showing a commercial from a wireless carrier touting its network coverage. The wireless world has gone map crazy, and at that center of that psychosis is a little firm based in Memphis, Tenn., named American Roamer.
While the name might not be familiar, American Roamer’s work likely has more viewers on television than Jay Leno. All of those maps Verizon Wireless uses to trump its superiority over AT&T Mobility when it comes to 3G coverage? Those come from Memphis.
“Anytime a company has a leg up on the competition as a differentiator, they are going to come out with guns blazing,” said American Roamer CEO Bryan Darr. “Verizon has pounded the map issue.”
Coloring inside the lines
American Roamer’s maps are complied by the company’s crack staff of researchers and map makers taking information they receive from carriers, information from government agencies and information the company tracks down when the first two options are limited.
“We don’t wait for people to cooperate,” Darr explained. “If the information is out there, we go out there and get it. We prefer to work with the carriers, but if there is information out there we will go out there and find it.”
Ray Westbrook, SVP of sales and marketing for American Roamer, noted that since the company is dealing with trying to map something as nebulous as airwaves true network coverage down to a street level is mapped as well as possible.
“There is a new emphasis on signal strength,” Westbrook said. “It used to be that coverage maps were just a big blob, an amoeba. Now our customers and their customers are looking to see greater depth of coverage and not just for their own coverage but also from roaming partners.”
This greater depth is becoming more critical as carriers begin rolling out next-generation networks that promise consumers greater network speeds and thus more utility. Darr said the company is already in the midst of tracking coverage for Clearwire Corp.’s WiMAX network, and has a memorandum of understanding with the WiMAX Forum trade association. American Roamer expects to closely follow Verizon Wireless’ LTE network deployment and provide coverage maps as that network unfolds.
American Roamer is also being staying on top of new network deployments by companies just getting into the wireless space, like cable company Cox Communications Inc.’s plans to launch a 3G network this year. In addition, Darr said the influx of new devices like e-readers being offered by non-traditional companies provides a new opportunity to highlight network coverage.
“It’s very important that there is fresh blood coming into the industry,” Darr said. “It provides us with additional opportunities to show what we can do and maybe things that we haven’t done before.”
Wild, wild west
American Roamer is also trying to tackle the challenges in mapping coverage provided by the hundreds, if not thousands of independent wireless Internet service providers that continue to pop up across the country. For those operating in licensed spectrum bands, Darr said the challenge is modest, but for those trying to offer service using unlicensed spectrum bands, the challenge is formidable.
“With the broadband stimulus coming online some of these WISPs might want to be recognized, especially if they are serving an underserved area,” Darr noted.
In addition to tracking networks being launched by new entrants, new 4G deployments and the jungle of WISPs, American Roamer is aggressively moving its field of vision overseas. Darr said the company is planning on attending next month’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain to further promote its international efforts.
“We have we believe the most comprehensive data base in the world,” Darr said. “We already have LTE in Sweden ready to roll in our data base.”