Mobility Insights
FAQ
Category: Mobility Insights
Q: What is the history of the platform?
The first version of this platform was co-created with the city of Pully in 2015. The objective was to observe the development of mobility on a small road segment in the city center during a period of 10 years based on mobile data.
Q: What are the mobility insights indicators that are exposed?
"It all starts on a map". You will first define your area of interest (AOI); this can be a postal code or a custom area that you draw yourself anywhere in Switzerland. The area can be as little as 100m x 100m or as big as Switzerland. For convenience, postal codes are already defined in the platform and you can simply search for them.
You will then define the period you're interested in; it can be minimum one or several calendar weeks (Monday to Sunday) from last week to 2 years ago.
The Insights platform will then compute the number of trips daily and hourly over the chosen period, more specifically it will show:
Q: How does it work?
When they are switched on, today's mobile phones exchange information with the antennas of the mobile network all the time. Telecommunication companies need to process and store these exchanges to enable communications, improve service quality and perform billing. The Mobility Insights team receives a (de-facto) anonymized version of these exchanges. Then it transforms them into positions based on a probabilistic model combining cell/antenna information and radio measurements.
Finally, it generates the most likely paths corresponding to these positions, using Switzerland's road and train network data.
We also distinguish when the SIM card is static and when it's on the move. We reset a trip when a SIM card stays static for more than 20 minutes.
The trips are then aggregated i.e. they are then grouped by origin / destinations and only pairs of more than 20 trips are exposed.
Q: What is the accuracy of the data and what are the known limitations?
This is mobile network (and not GPS) positioning. The accuracy is affected by the number of antennas (the more antennas, the better the accuracy). The average accuracy is of the order of 10s or 100s of meters depending on the specific location. Usually, the accuracy is better in cities and worse in rural areas.
Also, the quality of the reconstructed trips tends to be better for longer trips than shorter ones. Multimodal trips are currently not supported; the platform provides the most likely path either by road or train. Finally, it is important to note that not all SIM cards have an equal weight. In fact, our platform focuses on devices used by the typical population (e.g. phones and tablets), filters out connected devices (e.g. payment systems) and scales the final numbers to account for market penetration.
Q: What mode of transport do you detect and how?
We detect road, rail and highway. A trip is classified as road if most of the associated positions are on the road network. The same logic applies for the categories train and highway. In case of several modes of transport used in the same trip, the mode of transport with the longest leg will be used to flag the whole trip. Currently, we do not support other categories of mode of transport on the road such as buses, bicycles, pedestrians, …
Q: How do you find out origin/day municipality?
We define origin and day municipalities for each SIM card by looking at the antennas with most frequent connections to the respective SIM card for given time periods (8:00 and 20:00 for day, 20:00 to 8:00 for origin) during the recent past. Also here, the aggregation is applied i.e. at least 20 SIM cards need to be in the municipality in order for the indicator to be displayed.
Q: How do you differentiate commuter trips?
A trip is flagged as a commuter trip if the origin and destination correspond to the origin and day municipalities defined for that SIM Card (see above).
Q: How do you calculate socio-demographic information and what are the indicators?
Today, the socio-demographic indicators are age groups and gender. This is based on the origin municipality defined for every SIM card. We then use socio-demographic information from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). For example, if 40% of the residents of a municipality are male then a SIM card from this municipality has a 40% chance of belonging to a person with male gender. The same mechanism is used for age groups.
The subscriber number nationality comes from the SIM card IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) of which we only process the first three digits that indicate the country of origin of the SIM card.
Q: Where can I opt-out so that my traces are not captured?
Residential customers can opt-out in the Data usage section in My Swisscom. For customers with a company subscription, contact your fleet manager who can request that the whole company is removed from the smart data for third parties collection.
Q: Are the results representative of all mobile users in Switzerland or only the Swisscom mobile users?
The results are representative of all mobile users in Switzerland. To do that, we extrapolate the statistics based on the municipality of origin and its corresponding Swisscom market share. For example: a trip by a SIM card, whose municipality of origin is Lausanne and where the Swisscom market share is 50%, will count double (1 trip / 0.5 = 2 trips).
We consider all the SIM cards connected to our network including MVNOs (e.g. M Budget Mobile, Lyca Mobile, ...) and roamers. However, we exclude the opted-out private and business customers (see Where can I opt-out so that my traces are not captured?).
The trips of the roamers are not weighted and will always count for one.
Q: What happens when I go abroad?
If you cross the border (e.g. to France), your trip will end near the border. The same when you enter Switzerland again. Your trip will start near the border depending on when your mobile phone reconnects to the Swisscom network.
Category: Tools
Q: Can I save the insights presented in the tool?
You can download any part of your insights in excel format and use the data for further analysis with your own tools.
Q: How large can an area of interest (AOI) be?
The tool contains pre-defined areas for all the ZIP codes in Switzerland. You can also define your own area. The area must be minimum 100m x 100m and could be as big as the whole of Switzerland. Your drawn area must at least contain a red point, otherwise it will not return any data.
Q: What are the red points that are visible when I draw an area or select a ZIP code?
The red dots are points on the road and rail networks where we map trips. You have to include at least 1 point so that the platform returns some data.
Category: Free Demo
Q: How long can I use the demo version of Mobility Insights?
You can use the demo access for an unlimited period of time. You just need to register with a valid email address and phone number.
Q: What can I do with the free version, and what dataset does it offer?
We offer a free dataset covering Bern train station so that you can get familiar with the insights we provide.
Category: Payment & Costs
Q: How much does Mobility Insights cost?
One AOI per calendar week costs 1'500 CHF; the AOI can be as big as Switzerland or as small as 100m x 100m.
Q: I need a price-quote from you to get budget approval from my company, how do I get one?
You can define your AOI yourself (or use a predefined ZIP code AOI), select the number of weeks, add the offer to your basket and obtain a price quote from the tool.
Q: What payment methods can I use to pay for my purchased offers?
You will get an invoice from us. Once the invoice is paid, you will have access to your ordered insights.
Category: Tool Security
Q: What information do I need to sign-up to Mobility Insights?
A valid email address and a mobile phone number are required. The mobile phone number must be from either Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, or Germany.
We will verify your identity by sending an SMS to your mobile phone number and activate your account once you've clicked on the activation link sent to your email address.
You will get an SMS on your mobile phone number for two-factor authentication every time you log in to Mobility Insights.
Q: How do I change my login information (email address, password, phone number)?
Login to Mobility Insights and click on the person icon at the top right of the screen and choose "Edit profile".
If you've forgotten your password and cannot access your account, you can reset your password here.
Q: Why do I need double authentication?
To protect the access to your insights.
Two-factor authentication is part of the current security standards and is required by Swisscom for all its products, especially those that are publicly accessible.
Category: Data Privacy
Q: How do you ensure privacy?
According to an independent audit conducted by the ZHAW School of Engineering in 2020, the data provided by Mobility Insights can be regarded as de facto anonymous.
To list a few measures:
The data is only available in a very secure area within Swisscom.
Q: How do I opt out from your communication?
If you don't want to receive communication from us about new features, login to Mobility Insights and click on the person icon at the top right of the screen and choose "Edit profile".
Simply untick the "Inform me about new features" checkbox.
Q: What data do you store on me?
We store your email address that you used to create your account and the phone number you used to validate your identity. We also store your first name and last name if you specified them in the "Edit profile" section.
We also store your draft offers, your saved offers (when you download an offer) and your purchased offers. When you purchase an offer, we also store your billing information (company name, company address, invoice recipient, invoice email, invoice delivery method and invoice language).
Q: How do I delete my account?
Login to Mobility Insights and click on the person icon at the top right of the screen and choose "Edit profile ". Browse to the "Delete account" section and press the "Delete account" button.
If you are the only user in the Mobility Insight's organization assigned to you, all your data will be deleted.
If there are multiple users in the Mobility Insight's organization assigned to you, only your email address and phone number will be deleted (as well as your first name and last name). Your draft, saved and purchased offers will still be accessible by the other users in the same organization.
Category: Contact
Q: Can you help?
Please use this contact form, one of our experts will get back to you.
