ROK Mobile (a nationwide provider of wireless and social impacting value-added services) has partnered with M2Catalyst (a crowdsourcing platform) to help illustrate the continued devastating effect hurricane Maria has had on wireless communications and to help direct repair efforts in Puerto Rico. By crowdsourcing the number of unique cell phone connections before and after the hurricane, M2Catalyst can show 86% of the island’s cell towers are still non-operational.
The lack of communications has significantly hampered the relief efforts as well as people’s ability to contact loved ones back home. ROK Mobile and M2Catalyst are publishing this information to help repair crews locate areas still lacking service as well as direct the citizens to find their nearest cell connection.
"We’ve all seen the devastation in Puerto Rico, and without reliable communication, there’s no way to support the logistics necessary to get aid where it’s needed most," said Jonathan Kendrick, Co-Founder, and Chairman of ROK Mobile.
Mike Brough, CEO of M2Catalyst, said, "M2Catalyst crowdsources mobile network performance data around the world for situations like this. Today our data scientists analysed 26,419 antennas and 8.8 million mobile signal measurements from August 1 – October 2 across Puerto Rico. The devastation is evident, especially in the coastal regions where such a large proportion of cell sites are still down."
About ROK Mobile
ROK Mobile was founded by seasoned business innovators John Paul DeJoria (John Paul Mitchell Systems, Patrón Tequila) and Jonathan Kendrick (British entrepreneur) as a lifestyle wireless company delivering value-added social services with wireless plans. ROK Mobile believes consumers should expect more from a carrier, and its plans go beyond standard connectivity services of talk, text, and data to include international calling, insurance, and other value-added services. For more information visit www.rokmobile.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
About M2Catalyst
The M2Catalyst’s crowdsourcing platform provides trillions of network measurements across 200 countries and 800 carrier networks.
http://www.m2mobileinsights.com/
