Smartcell: small-scale mobile congestion awareness.

Despite improvements and expansion of cellular coverage in developing regions, a substantial qualitative divide remains. Maps that display the presence or absence of cellular coverage mask critical differences in infrastructure performance and client load. In order to illuminate challenges faced by users of such mobile networks, we collect and analyze GSM network measurements at the local scale. We discover higher network congestion in developing regions as well as performance differences between available carriers in each location. Based on our findings, we propose an app, called SmartCell, that informs and empowers users in near real time to seek out improved mobile connectivity.