Yandex.Maps (as well as Google Maps, etc.), when will you start using mesh networks?

But there are very good prerequisites for this:

1. Territorial referencing of the most frequently required quanta of information (images of a part of a map / chart / satellite, meta-information about traffic jams, etc.)
   A significant part of pedestrians using an application-map in the vicinity of point A will use maps of the neighborhood of point A. So, you can try to get the necessary information is not from the server via mobile Internet, but from another user.

   
   

2. The high cost of traffic to the server . Card applications are often used on mobile devices, which, in turn, use the expensive and rarely unlimited mobile Internet (they expressed dissatisfaction with this fact on Habré ). Of course, a fragment of the map is not so heavy, but we should not forget about the pitfalls, like rounding up sessions. In addition, the speed of mobile Internet often leaves much to be desired.
   Obviously, saving mobile traffic is a competitive advantage.

   
   

   A logical continuation of this policy is the presence somewhere in the bowels of the phone the checkbox "My Internet is unlimited" for altruists who allow their phone to be used as a relay (so that others can save mobile traffic). But it is, utopia :-)

   
   
3. Predictable relevance and good quantization of data . Traffic reports are updated at a predetermined frequency. Maps are also not redrawed every day. It is enough to provide each quantum of the transmitted information (and it is possible to supply each portion, which may include several quanta - mesh traffic is practically unlimited) with a time stamp and a signature. Standard caching mechanisms (with ETags and Last-Modified) have not been canceled.

What does this text do on Habr ?!

It draws community attention to mesh networks and encourages discussion of their commercial (i.e., cost-effective) applications. I do not exclude that the answer of Yandex will look like "Not yet soon, because ..."; I hope that the discussion will unfold regarding the use of mesh networks in this and related fields.

Now, in my humble understanding, the situation is such that mesh networks are really capable of changing the world - but on condition that you get support from a fairly large company (Google or Yandex will do). Otherwise, we will very soon run into radio bandwidth or other, less objective reasons for limiting user traffic.