Best Buy Mobile's My Mobile Map concept gathers true coverage maps?

With the bickering and mudslinging between two of the nation’s largest wireless carriers still on-going, consumers may really wonder what kind of coverage they’re really getting with their provider. You can believe any side you wish to, but out of the blue, one big box retailer is looking to provide some hardcore data about coverage maps for all the major wireless providers. One of our tipsters has informed us that Best Buy Mobile is rolling out a new concept called My Mobile Map which aims to gather data from select GPS-enabled smartphones and build out an extensive database about the level of coverage. So it seems like the consumer electronics giant is looking to really give the scoop about wireless coverage for each of the major carriers in the US.

Data will be gathered from customers who are willing to have the application installed on their phones – from there it will send data about radio signal strength and internet connection bandwidth based on their exact location. With a good amount of information from various people using the application, Best Buy Mobile is hoping to offer their customers a better picture of network coverage across the board.

So what happens if you decide to become a guinea pig for this new concept? There might be some incentives in the form of Rewards Zone points or coupons which will allow you to buy even more gadgets from the big box retailer. So far it looks like everything is still in the early stages, and with enough data gathered, they may be able to visualize an accurate map for everyone. We're unsure as to how much battery drain this application will have on your phone, but we'd think it'll take a good amount of juice. So if you trust Best Buy enough with your phone purchases, then you may want to consider inquiring about this new concept that might provide you some additional perks. Let’s just hope it doesn’t tap into any other information on the handset that it doesn’t need to be poking around.

Thanks to our anonymous tipster!!