RF Coverage Mapping of Mobile Phone Networks in Nigeria

Abstract

Over time, the customers of mobile network operators across Nigeria have suffered from the uncertainty of signal coverage at different locations. This uncertainty is created by poor or unavailability of network services due to inadequate coverage by individual mobile operators. This results to subscribers of a given operator not having connectivity in some locations where the operator’s service is not covered. To mitigate this, an android-based mobile application and a web application was designed and implemented. This software entity uses a crowdsourcing technique to collect mobile signal data of all operators across the country. The mobile application contains a web service entity that collects signal strength and location data of mobile users on an hourly basis and stores the same in a local mobile database located in the user device. At specified intervals, the content of the local mobile database is forwarded to a centralized secure database located in a webserver. The App maps the crowdsourced data on the google map of Nigeria and displays it on the user device. Thus, users can, ab initio, know the locations where various operators cover and the strength of the signals. This solution will not only help users solve connectivity challenges but will also provoke a healthy competition among service providers to improve on their network coverage and quality of service (QoS). It will also help communication regulators like the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to independently appraise the level of mobile coverage across Nigeria for appropriate planning and policymaking. Again, the crowd-sourced data which with time will become Big Data will serve as a data house for future research on Big Data Analytics and will be used to provide solutions to various connectivity and human mobility problems. The web service and mobile application development were achieved using Java, XML, SQLite and PHP, and JSON while the database server was configured with MYSQL Server. The App, which was developed at the Federal university of Technology Minna, Nigeria, was tested by installing it on many students’ android phones. The result was impressive as mobile signals from various locations around the campus and Minna town were being mapped on the user interface in realtime.