Interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions: a study using mobile phone data

PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e20814. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020814. Epub 2011 Jul 13.

Abstract

In this study we analyze one year of anonymized telecommunications data for over one million customers from a large European cellphone operator, and we investigate the relationship between people's calls and their physical location. We discover that more than 90% of users who have called each other have also shared the same space (cell tower), even if they live far apart. Moreover, we find that close to 70% of users who call each other frequently (at least once per month on average) have shared the same space at the same time--an instance that we call co-location. Co-locations appear indicative of coordination calls, which occur just before face-to-face meetings. Their number is highly predictable based on the amount of calls between two users and the distance between their home locations--suggesting a new way to quantify the interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Phone*
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Telecommunications*
  • Time Factors