A group of mobile phone users have reported that since yesterday, at certain times of the day, they are facing issues with GPS and navigation. Essentially, the system is incorrectly identifying their location. But what is the reason for the disruption in GPS?

According to IDEA, some users have been reporting GPS disruptions since Friday, August 19. These individuals are experiencing difficulties with navigation apps or ordering rideshare services due to this disruption. It appears that the GPS system is facing issues, causing maps and apps that require navigation to display users’ locations inaccurately and at different points that are far from their actual positions.

A user on Twitter wrote that in the middle of Vali-e-Asr intersection, both Snapp and Tap30 show locations in neighborhoods! What are they doing with internet and GPS?

Another person emphasized that this disruption was present in both navigation apps, Snapp and Tap30. Another user mentioned that they intended to go from the city theater to Vali-e-Asr Square, but the navigation app showed their location at a place far away from their actual position. Other users also experienced the same issue in different parts of the city, such as Navab Street and other locations.

Additionally, disruptions in mobile phone GPS have been reported in other areas, including the vicinity of Hafez Street, Noufel Loshato Street, and Karegar Shomali Street.

What is the reason for the disruption in GPS?

This disruption is not occurring for the first time. In past years, a similar issue, especially affecting Snapp and Tap30 drivers, has arisen where passengers’ locations were inaccurately detected.

No official authority has provided an explanation for the recent disruptions so far. Iranian apps involved in this situation have not yet responded to the issue. However, the Neshan app, which experienced the same disruption three years ago, explained the situation: “We have spent a long time investigating various aspects of this disruption and after field tests and discussions with you, we realized that this issue is caused by a disruption in the GPS signal. In this way, the users’ locations in specific areas are being erroneously shifted to different places. For example, many users have reported that their location is displayed on Mehrabad Airport while they are actually kilometers away from the airport.”

In 1399 (2020-2021), simultaneous with numerous reports from users about GPS disruptions, a fatal incident occurred in the northern mountains of Tehran, which some associated with this issue. However, the president of the Mountaineering Federation denied this connection. At that time, IRNA, quoting Reza Zarei, the president of the Mountaineering Federation, wrote: “I can confidently say that the incidents in the northern mountains of Tehran on Friday had nothing to do with GPS disruption.”

He had said: “GPS disruption exists in the northern mountains of Tehran, but I can confidently say that none of the affected individuals got lost due to this issue. Next to one of the bodies, a GPS device was found, but it is not clear whether this person used the device or not.”

What is the purpose of GPS?

According to Wikipedia’s explanation, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a system used to determine a geographical position. This system consists of 24 satellites orbiting the Earth, with 4 satellites in each orbit. Small rockets keep these satellites accurately aligned.

The GPS system operates independently of phone receivers or the internet. With the help of these technologies, information from the GPS system can be improved and made more practical. The GPS system can provide vital positioning capabilities for both military and civilian users worldwide.

Neshan also wrote in its explanation three years ago about this system: “The Global Positioning System, abbreviated as GPS, is a system for determining geographical positions that has an accuracy of up to 3 to 5 meters on smartphones. Your mobile phone’s operating system determines your location using this system and displays it on the map. However, sometimes this connection faces disruptions in certain areas.

The issues reported by users over the past two days mostly exceed the usual errors in this system, and it is still not officially clear what the reason for the disruption in GPS is.