HERE adds mobile operators to its monetisation map

The location and mapping service company HERE, in partnership with data analytics company Continual, launched two new data services, HERE Cellular Signals and HERE Traffic Analytics, aiming to increase its value for mobile operators in addition to the transport and autonomous car industries.

HERE Cellular Signals is generated by overlaying a radio map crowdsourced from its users on top of its in-house road map. The outcome of such a mesh will provide a snapshot of the network coverage, carrier presence, signal strength and bandwidth on a given road. HERE claims that there are 250 million connected devices out there with HERE user clients installed, and the radio data (including cellular and Wi-Fi traces as well as GPS coordinates) will be updated 800 million times a day, including 100 million times over cellular networks.

If the combined solution is proved robust enough, this can deliver benefits to mobile operators. In order to gather reliable data from live networks, mobile operators or its suppliers still need to send out engineers to do drive tests with car-mounted or hand-held measurement equipment. Such data are critical for network and RF planning and optimization, quality evaluations, and competitive assessments. HERE Cellular Signals will not completely replace such tests, but it can reduce the frequency and geographical coverage, and in turn reduce mobile operators’ operation costs.

When it comes to HERE’s home territory, i.e. transport and logistics industry of today and autonomous and self-driving cars of tomorrow, HERE Cellular Signals can help the fleets optimise their communication plans with the control centre based on the cellular network coverage and service plans on the routes. Connected vehicles need always-on connectivity to the cloud, to the road infrastructure and to other vehicles. A radio map like HERE Cellular Signals can therefore help connected car managers plan when to use online service and when to use offline service, or which roads to avoid so as to minimise the risk of dropped connection. This will be particularly critical when full auto-driving cars come to the roads which will demand end-to-end low-latency broadband connectivity, e.g. 5G.

“Bandwidth is a limited and expensive resource,” said Aaron Mayfield, Senior Product Manager at HERE Technologies. “As data traffic soars and new demands are placed on cellular networks, bandwidth optimization will increasingly become a delicate balancing act. HERE Cellular Signals is a valuable resource to add to the toolbox of cellular carriers to help manage these challenges.”

HERE Traffic Analytics, on the other hand, uses the data gathered from the roads to provide visibility into road traffic patterns.

Both of HERE’s new products are integrated in the Mobility Experience Analytics solution marketed by Continual, an Israeli user data analytics and AI company.

“As 5G networks and always-online automated vehicles edge closer to reality, we’re seeing growing convergence between the mobile telecom and automotive markets,” said Michiel Verberg, Senior Manager Strategic Partners at HERE Technologies. “We’re excited that Continual’s existing deep relationships with MNOs coupled with our established automotive partnerships will provide us with a unique opportunity to better address this important evolving market.”

HERE in its earlier life also had a legacy of working with mobile operators extensively. It was part of Nokia, which was acquired by the consortium of German car makers including Audi, BMW, and Mercedes, back in 2015.

“Continual’s Mobility Experience Analytics solution re-defines the approach that mobile operators and automotive companies can adopt towards monitoring and improving the connected experience of car drivers, passengers and subscribers who are traveling,” said Assaf Aloni, CMO of Continual. “HERE’s impressive portfolio of automotive and network technologies is very synergistic with ours, and the partnership is enabling us to create even stronger solutions for Connected Mobility.”

The two companies will demo the new services at the upcoming Mobile World Congress.