Towards Anonymous Mobile Community services

In the current market conditions, network operators are in search of novel value-added services that will increase their revenue. This paper introduces the innovative concept of Anonymous Mobile Community (AMC) services and thoroughly defines and describes a robust platform targeted for their deployment. AMC services take advantage of the terminals’ capabilities to collect information and deliver it to the network. In this context, terminals are enabled to form communities that serve as sources of information. In these communities, the anonymity and privacy of the end-users are respected and guarded. Several examples of promising AMC services are presented and categorized. An indicative example application is the provision of real-time information regarding road-traffic conditions, based on the location and speed of mobile terminals. A system aiming at the provision of diverse AMC services is proposed, and its requirements, architecture and functionality are described in detail. The related scalability issues and business models are carefully outlined, and a use case scenario as well as trial results are presented.