How can public transport routes be optimised for smoother travel? Where should new commercial services ideally be situated? As of today, more precise answers will be found for these and many other challenges in urban and traffic planning as Telia launches its service identifying the movement patterns of people based on anonymized mobile network data.

publive-image

“Mobile network data has already been used to support traffic planning, in particular, in several European countries. Last spring, Telia tested the concept in Stockholm, and the results were very promising,” says Tapio Levä, Senior Business Manager, Analytics at Telia.

The service launched today by Telia Finland has been under development at Telia for two years. Particular attention has been paid to the privacy protection and information security of customers.

“All data used in the service is anonymised and aggregated, which means that our customers cannot under any circumstances be identified or located using the service. The service complies with even the most stringent requirements of the new EU data protection regulation,” Levä stresses.

The service, known as Crowd Insights, can, for instance, tell how many people commute during the morning rush hour. The information has potential uses for many companies and entities that plan services related to mobility and commerce.

Telia has tested the technical viability of the service and a pilot has studied the travel patterns and times of arrival of people in Tampere.

“The service introduces a new dimension to urban planning, as we will have access to continuously updating and highly extensive data on the movements of streams of people. This opens us exciting opportunities in adjusting the plans of our entire public transportation route network and schedule as the Tampere tramway, set to begin operation in 2021, reshapes the city’s mass transport,” explains Tero Blomqvist, Director of the Smart Tampere Program at the City of Tampere.