<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
(	O
MPD	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
big	B-Application
data	I-Application
which	O
results	O
from	O
the	O
high	O
data	O
volumes	O
of	O
mobile	O
positioning	O
–	O
tracking	O
the	O
location	O
of	O
mobile	O
phones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
generating	O
population	O
and	O
tourism	O
statistics	O
,	O
for	O
measuring	O
human	O
mobility	O
,	O
creating	O
data-driven	O
solutions	O
in	O
urban	O
planning	O
,	O
establishing	O
a	O
response	O
plan	O
to	O
disasters	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
ways	O
to	O
track	O
the	O
location	O
of	O
a	O
mobile	O
device	O
in	O
a	O
network	O
but	O
this	O
article	O
covers	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
from	O
network-based	O
technologies	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
less	O
accurate	O
,	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
has	O
many	O
benefits	O
:	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
collected	O
more	O
easily	O
compared	O
to	O
active	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
(	O
requires	O
no	O
individual	O
agreements	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
people	O
positioned	O
can	O
be	O
much	O
bigger	O
and	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
gathered	O
for	O
longer	O
periods	O
of	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
technical	O
solutions	O
of	O
identifying	O
a	O
mobile	O
phone	O
's	O
location	O
developed	O
further	O
,	O
different	O
location	B-Application
based-services	I-Application
started	O
to	O
emerge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
emerged	O
as	O
a	O
completely	O
new	O
source	O
of	O
information	O
and	O
analysis	O
in	O
geography	O
and	O
social	O
sciences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
records	O
are	O
considered	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
and	O
when	O
they	O
are	O
created	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
registered	O
by	O
different	O
network	O
entities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
attributes	O
that	O
characterise	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
are	O
the	O
following	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
domestic	O
and	O
inbound	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
geographical	O
reference	O
is	O
the	O
location	O
and/or	O
the	O
coverage	O
area	O
of	O
the	O
network	O
cell	O
(	O
initially	O
the	O
ID	O
of	O
the	O
cell	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
outbound	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
initial	O
geographical	O
reference	O
is	O
the	O
country	O
of	O
the	O
roaming	O
partner	O
MNO	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
divided	O
into	O
three	O
categories	O
from	O
the	O
perspective	O
of	O
a	O
mobile	O
network	O
operator	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
domestic	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
–	O
any	O
mobile	O
positioning	O
record	O
created	O
within	O
the	O
network	O
of	O
a	O
mobile	O
network	O
operator	O
(	O
MNO	O
)	O
resulting	O
from	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
subscriber	O
of	O
a	O
home	O
MNO	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
outbound	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
–	O
any	O
mobile	O
positioning	O
record	O
created	O
in	O
a	O
roaming	O
network	O
of	O
a	O
foreign	O
MNO	O
resulting	O
from	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
subscriber	O
of	O
a	O
home	O
MNO	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
inbound	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
–	O
any	O
mobile	O
positioning	O
record	O
created	O
within	O
the	O
network	O
of	O
a	O
mobile	O
network	O
operator	O
resulting	O
from	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
roaming	O
subscriber	O
of	O
a	O
foreign	O
MNO	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
,	O
since	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
collected	O
continuously	O
by	O
mobile	O
network	O
operators	O
,	O
it	O
offers	O
the	O
possibility	O
of	O
generating	O
statistics	O
on	O
a	O
very	O
granular	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
research	O
papers	O
and	O
use	O
cases	O
shows	O
that	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
plays	O
a	O
very	O
important	O
role	O
in	O
various	O
domains	O
such	O
as	O
tourism	O
,	O
health	O
,	O
socio-economics	O
,	O
disaster	O
response	O
,	O
urban	O
management	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
this	O
research	O
is	O
conducted	O
on	O
the	O
basis	O
of	O
identifying	O
meaningful	O
locations	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
home	O
and	O
work	O
anchor	O
points	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
help	O
of	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
Estonia	O
,	O
the	O
city	O
government	O
of	O
Tartu	O
launched	O
a	O
bus	O
route	O
network	O
which	O
was	O
designed	O
by	O
using	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
to	O
understand	O
user	O
needs	O
and	O
travelling	O
routes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
use	O
case	O
here	O
is	O
predicting	O
wealth	O
throughout	O
Rwanda	O
using	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
production	O
of	O
official	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
at	O
2021	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
two	O
countries	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
where	O
statistics	O
providers	O
use	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
regular	O
production	O
of	O
official	O
tourism	O
statistics	O
:	O
Estonia	O
and	O
Indonesia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eesti	O
Pank	O
,	O
the	O
central	O
bank	O
of	O
Estonia	O
,	O
produces	O
official	O
tourism	O
travel	O
statistics	O
based	O
on	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
since	O
2008	O
and	O
the	O
Indonesian	O
Ministry	O
of	O
Tourism	O
produces	O
MPD-based	O
inbound	O
cross-border	O
visitor	O
arrival	O
statistics	O
since	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
statistical	O
purposes	O
,	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
provides	O
new	O
possibilities	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
said	O
to	O
have	O
better	O
spatial	O
and	O
temporal	O
precision	O
than	O
regular	O
tourism	O
statistics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
also	O
touted	O
to	O
be	O
suitable	O
for	O
studying	O
tourism	O
in	O
less	O
visited	O
natural	O
areas	O
where	O
it	O
is	O
difficult	O
to	O
use	O
other	O
methods	O
such	O
as	O
accommodation	O
statistics	O
or	O
questionnaires	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
timeliness	O
of	O
statistics	O
(	O
up	O
to	O
near	O
real-time	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
possibility	O
of	O
producing	O
unconfirmed	O
quick	O
indicators	O
are	O
further	O
features	O
provided	O
by	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nevertheless	O
,	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
has	O
several	O
advantages	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
substantiate	O
its	O
use	O
and	O
even	O
open	O
up	O
new	O
perspectives	O
in	O
tourism	O
studies	O
and	O
management	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
has	O
also	O
some	O
weaknesses	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
even	O
this	O
data	O
will	O
not	O
represent	O
the	O
total	O
population	O
since	O
there	O
are	O
also	O
people	O
without	O
mobile	O
phones	O
(	O
young	O
children	O
,	O
the	O
elderly	O
,	O
certain	O
socio-economic	O
groups	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
when	O
using	O
passive	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
information	O
regarding	O
the	O
background	O
of	O
the	O
users	O
:	O
their	O
characteristics	O
,	O
socio-economic	O
indicators	O
,	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
trip	O
,	O
type	O
of	O
accommodation	O
and	O
means	O
of	O
transport	O
used	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
detailed	O
information	O
on	O
these	O
characteristics	O
can	O
be	O
gathered	O
with	O
additional	O
questionnaires	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
active	O
mobile	B-General_Concept
positioning	I-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
collection	O
of	O
which	O
generally	O
requires	O
special	O
permissions	O
(	O
consent	O
from	O
people	O
being	O
positioned	O
)	O
anyway	O
.	O
</s>
