Ookla and Mapbox Announce Geospatial Network Connectivity Partnership

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ookla, the renowned network intelligence company behind both Speedtest and Downdetector, and Mapbox, the premier mapping and location cloud platform for developers, are engaging in a global partnership to create groundbreaking, network-aware mapping solutions. Both companies will be collaborating on technologies that deliver significant new value to their respective customers.

Ookla and Mapbox are uniquely positioned to revolutionize geospatial network analysis and connectivity-aware mapping features through their combined capabilities and expertise. Ookla collects hundreds of millions of network performance and quality measurements around the world every day through their Speedtest platform. Similarly, Mapbox enables developers to build real-time location awareness into their own apps, which are accessed by over 600 million users each month. This massive audience enables Mapbox to dynamically maintain maps of the world that are constantly refreshed via consumer feedback. Combining elements of these platforms will produce geospatial intelligence with precise location accuracy that showcases the availability and capabilities of network connectivity around the world.

Ookla’s unrivaled network intelligence to enhance Mapbox’s products

Mapbox customers will gain the option to enable connectivity awareness features, opening up limitless potential for sophisticated network-aware offerings. Mapbox’s Navigation SDK and the recently announced Mapbox Dash will maintain functionality in areas with low or no available connectivity thanks to the integration of network intelligence from Ookla. When Speedtest technologies are enabled, Mapbox will gain visibility into predicted connectivity, enabling route optimization and the ability to preload directions or other pertinent data prior to entering an area with degraded network capabilities.

For example, Straightaway, Mapbox’s leading app for optimally planning delivery routes at scale, utilizes Mapbox’s Navigation SDK to pair a long list of addresses with live traffic data resulting in hours saved every day. With the addition of Ookla’s network intelligence, routes can be further optimized to maximize network connectivity throughout each trip.

"Ookla's high resolution network coverage data is a perfect complement to the Mapbox location platform," said Mapbox CEO Peter Sirota. "We are excited to work with Ookla to explore the many ways we can incorporate their rich connectivity data into our APIs, SDKs, and applications to deliver a safer experience for drivers and more productivity for professional couriers—even in the most disconnected environments."

Mapbox’s geospatial expertise and capabilities power Ookla’s enterprise solutions

Understanding and optimizing network performance is one of the toughest challenges faced by both operators and regulators. Oftentimes even knowing the areas where a network is delivering adequate connectivity to users is a hurdle. That’s where Ookla’s enterprise solutions come in, illuminating an otherwise opaque network performance landscape to help the industry analyze and improve the internet. Mapbox’s world-class expertise, mapping and geodata solutions are being used to develop innovative new features in Ookla solutions. Imagine Mapbox’s next gen 3D map capabilities integrated into Cell Analytics in-building network analysis views.

"Mapbox is Ookla’s location platform of choice," said Ookla co-founder and CEO Doug Suttles. "Our consumer and enterprise Speedtest solutions already depend on it, and we are further integrating Mapbox features into almost everything we do. We are thrilled to partner with and support such a constant innovator as they expand further into automotive and logistics."

Mapbox is also a key partner of Ookla for Good™, an initiative to provide complimentary insights and expertise to organizations that are seeking to improve people’s lives through internet accessibility.

Over the course of their partnership, both companies are committed to unlocking the greatest benefits to consumers and businesses while maintaining the highest bar for user privacy and security. Further details about the outputs of the partnership will be shared as they emerge.

ABOUT OOKLA^®

Ookla^® is the global leader in mobile and broadband network intelligence, testing applications and related technologies. Speedtest^®, Ookla's flagship network testing platform, collects hundreds of millions of measurements about the performance and quality of networks around the world each day.

Operators, businesses and government agencies alike rely on Ookla for unparalleled and immediate information on the state of networks and online services. Ookla’s portfolio of enterprise solutions also includes Downdetector^®, which provides real-time analysis of status conditions and outages across industries such as network services, finance and gaming.

Ookla is part of Ziff Davis, a subsidiary of J2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: JCOM) and leading global digital-media company operating in three core verticals: Technology, Gaming and Shopping. Ookla’s headquarters are located in Seattle, WA with additional offices around the world. More information is available at www.ookla.com.

ABOUT MAPBOX^®

Mapbox^® powers location across all major industries. Millions of hardware and software developers use Mapbox to add live location awareness including maps, navigation, and search services to mobile applications, logistics systems and in-car automotive navigation.

The Mapbox AI-powered data pipeline processes over 300 million miles of anonymized and aggregated live road telemetry data daily allowing Mapbox to continuously update the map everywhere in the world.

Founded in 2010 in a garage in Washington, D.C., Mapbox now has more than 600 million monthly active users touching its maps, a global team of more than 500 employees, and is used by industry leaders including General Motors, BMW, Porsche, Ford, Instacart, Adobe, CNN, IBM, Strava, The New York Times, Snapchat, Porsche, Square, The Weather Channel, Lonely Planet, Mastercard, The United Nations, Tableau, Land Rover and Microsoft Power BI. Learn more at www.mapbox.com.

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