Monetizing Mobile Network Data Drives Operational Efficiency

The data‑analytics sector is booming, with forecasts projecting a €80 billion market by 2025 and growing beyond €100 billion. However, its complexity demands substantial investment in platforms and algorithms that enable operators to mine massive datasets for actionable insights.

As Cormac Whelan, CEO of Nokia’s UK & Ireland division, observes, operators should prioritize customer experience and operational efficiency rather than grappling with data‑processing challenges—especially when data volumes fall short of delivering deep insight.

Right Insights

A recent Ovum study on data insights in digital advertising reveals that 67 % of brands regard mobile operators as the most reliable source of customer data—outpacing digital media firms, chat‑app platforms, and device makers.

The challenge lies in capturing real‑world customer movements without compromising privacy or breaching ethical boundaries.

The solution is simple: every smartphone—comprising glass, metal, and silicon—remains in our pockets 24 hours a day, continuously transmitting essential network traffic. By anonymising and aggregating this data, operators can infer how people move through cities and interact with services without any new data collection.

Mobile devices routinely transmit signalling, location, and usage data to maintain connectivity, send SMS, and place calls. Rather than treating this traffic as a by‑product, operators can harness it—once anonymised and aggregated—to reveal population flows, public‑service usage patterns, and even engagement with outdoor advertising.

Making Data Work Harder

The upside is significant, especially for transportation, urban planning, and travel sectors. By mapping population movements, city planners can design smarter streets, transport agencies can optimise service levels, and travel firms can tailor itineraries to actual demand.

On a micro level, operators can notify passengers of disruptions, apply congestion‑charging schemes tied to live traffic, and trace the precise routes commuters follow.

Accurate, actionable data reduces operational costs and elevates customer satisfaction. By provisioning services only where demand truly exists, businesses avoid unnecessary spend and deliver timely value—such as travel alerts that help passengers sidestep delays.

Accurately interpreting large‑scale data remains the primary hurdle. Operators with limited coverage may struggle to amass the breadth of data needed, and building analytical platforms is resource‑intensive. A unified platform that merges data across networks, leveraging advanced analytics and machine learning, delivers higher data fidelity and tangible business returns.

Putting It Into Practice

The concept is already in operation. A recent trial with a UK operator yielded 9 billion data points, validating our platform’s coverage‑assurance capabilities. In Asia, StarHub has enriched network‑derived customer profiles with web‑browsing data, enhancing customer identification.

By correlating customer interests and geolocation, operators discern purchase intent and competing brands, enabling precision advertising that targets the right audience at the optimal moment.

This is merely a glimpse of current capabilities. As the technology matures, location data can orchestrate app behaviour—e.g., disabling camera functions in security‑sensitive zones like airports.

The same data can streamline parking enforcement by verifying permits or payments in real time and can supply advertisers with performance metrics for outdoor signage.

Telecommunications have pioneered cost‑reduction and service‑enhancement through data‑driven efficiency, a model other sectors should emulate. As efficiency becomes the defining metric, data will be the catalyst for unlocking it. This is an evolutionary shift we must embrace now.

The author of this blog is Cormac Whelan, CEO for the UK & Ireland at Nokia.

About the author

Cormac Whelan is the CEO for the UK & Ireland at Nokia, having taken up this role in January 2016. In this role he leads all operations for the UK & Ireland markets including sales, business management, delivery and operations.