EPJ Data Sci. (2014) 3: 3
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds21

Regular article

The geography and carbon footprint of mobile phone use in Cote d’Ivoire

² naXys, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge 8, Namur, 5000, Belgium
³ Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK
⁴ Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA
⁵ Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford Martin School, Walton Well Rd, Oxford, OX2 6ED, UK
⁶ Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
⁷ Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK
⁸ Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 49, Budapest, 1525, Hungary

^* e-mail: m.gastner@bristol.ac.uk

Received: 15 August 2013
Accepted: 5 February 2014
Published online: 19 February 2014

Abstract

The newly released Orange D4D mobile phone data base provides new insights into the use of mobile technology in a developing country. Here we perform a series of spatial data analyses that reveal important geographic aspects of mobile phone use in Cote d’Ivoire. We first map the locations of base stations with respect to the population distribution and the number and duration of calls at each base station. On this basis, we estimate the energy consumed by the mobile phone network. Finally, we perform an analysis of inter-city mobility, and identify high-traffic roads in the country.