Analyzing the workload dynamics of a mobile phone network in large scale events

Abstract

The ever-increasing usage of mobile phones challenges carriers to evolve and improve their services based on their users' behavior. Nevertheless, it remains uncommon the usage of data about human mobility for discovering patterns which could support the dynamic resource allocation in urban areas. In particular, occasional large scale events impose patterns that may strongly differ from those observed in daily routines. In this paper, we present a methodology to characterize the workload dynamics of a mobile phone network during large scale events. Our study is based on calls made by mobile phone users of a major Brazilian cellphone carrier during soccer matches with a large number of attendees at Rio de Janeiro's urban area. The results of applying the proposed methodology may be used to improve the understanding on how users move within an urban area towards the location of a large scale event and how they disperse afterward, helping the management of mobile phone networks. Moreover, the uncovered mobility patterns may drive the development of target applications and gadgets for large scale events, such as World Soccer Cup matches.