Impact of Road Congestion on Mobile Networks

Abstract: With the proliferation of connected vehicles and in-car infotainment, road congestion could concentrate mobile data demand precisely when network-supported services (e.g., traffic alerts, safety systems) are most critical. We study whether congestion events measurably affect mobile network performance. Using hourly antenna-level metrics from a major operator in a European country and published road congestion events from July–August 2024, we filter for non-ubiquitous, sustained congestion (excluding the top 20\% most frequent sections, events shorter than 30 minutes, and the lowest-severity incidents), yielding 1,838 events. Each road segment is associated with its three strongest antennas via a 4G signal-strength campaign. Performance during events is compared to a reference period (same hour in adjacent weeks) in terms of antenna activity, data volume (upload/download), and throughput. High-severity congestion correlates with increased antenna activity and data volume; throughput shows slight degradation primarily in low population density areas, while dense areas exhibit higher volumes with minimal throughput impact, suggesting built-in resilience. However, observed differences are modest and often not statistically significant, and stratification by population density reduces sample size, limiting definitive claims. Ongoing data collection is needed to validate these emerging trends as vehicle connectivity intensifies.