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Solution_​Round_​8_​Team_​AST (Public_​Version)

<p>This workflow is Team AST’s solution for the Round of 8 challenge in the KNIME Game of Nodes 2024. Some modifications have been made to the originally submitted workflow.<br>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p>US Cellular Towers Coverage<br><br>Challenge description:<br><br>You work as a data analyst for a large, US-based telco network composed of many different telco companies. In the last 10 years, the network has grown significantly, expanding its customer base and coverage in the country. After such a long expansion period, the management would like to get a comprehensive overview of the situation of the network. Hence, you are tasked with the creation of an interactive, highly customizable and responsive dashboard that communicate key insights. You are responsible to select what insights are worth sharing with the management.<br><br>Additionally, the dataset provides information about over 47,000 cellular towers, such as the location, geographic&nbsp;coordinates, ownership, and technical specifications. As such, your dashboard should also include geospatial maps that display areas of the country that are extensively covered by cellular towers as well as those are that are poorly covered, given a customizable coverage distance (e.g., a 20-km area around each tower is considered properly covered).<br><br>Finally, on the basis of the insights provided in your dashboard, give three business recommendations to management, so that they can better plan investments for the future growth of the network. Type your recommendations in an annotation.<br><br>Key requirement: you must rely on the nodes of the Geospatial Analytics Extension for the preprocessing of geospatial data and the creation of interactive maps: https://hub.knime.com/center%20for%20geographic%20analysis%20at%20harvard%20university/extensions/sdl.harvard.features.geospatial/latest/<br><br>Outcome:&nbsp;<br><br>An interactive data app to display the network's key insights and the cellular tower coverage of a selected area on a geospatial map.<br><br>Deliver your solution as a separate workflow and name it: Solution_Round_8_. Place your solution workflow in the same folder of this challenge workflow.<br><br>Teams are strongly encouraged to submit high-quality work in order to improve their chances of getting maximum points. Don't be afraid to go the extra mile! :)<br><br>Dataset:<br><br>Cellular Towers In USA dataset from Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/jahaidulislam/cellular-towers-in-usa<br><br>Deadline:<br><br>March 24, 2024 (submission by 11:59 PM CET) **. Check the calendar of the tournament: https://info.knime.com/game-of-nodes<br><br>** We will verify the date and time of the latest edits.<br><br>KNIME Game of Nodes:<br><br>Rules, Assessment Criteria &amp; FAQs: https://info.knime.com/game-of-nodes</p>

URL: KNIME Game of Nodes https://info.knime.com/game-of-nodes

US Cellular Towers CoverageChallenge description:You work as a data analyst for a large, US-based telco network composed of many different telco companies. In the last 10 years, the network has grown significantly, expanding its customer base and coverage in the country. After such a long expansion period, the management would like to get a comprehensive overview of the situation of the network. Hence, you are tasked with the creation of an interactive, highly customizable and responsive dashboard that communicate key insights. You are responsible to select what insights are worth sharing with the management.Additionally, the dataset provides information about over 47,000 cellular towers, such as the location, geographic&nbsp;coordinates, ownership, and technical specifications. As such, your dashboard should also include geospatial maps that display areas of the country that are extensively covered by cellular towers as well as those are that are poorly covered, given a customizable coverage distance (e.g., a 20-km area around each tower is considered properly covered).Finally, on the basis of the insights provided in your dashboard, give three business recommendations to management, so that they can better plan investments for the future growth of the network. Type your recommendations in an annotation.Key requirement: you must rely on the nodes of the Geospatial Analytics Extension for the preprocessing of geospatial data and the creation of interactive maps: https://hub.knime.com/center%20for%20geographic%20analysis%20at%20harvard%20university/extensions/sdl.harvard.features.geospatial/latest/Outcome:&nbsp;An interactive data app to display the network's key insights and the cellular tower coverage of a selected area on a geospatial map.Deliver your solution as a separate workflow and name it: Solution_Round_8_&lt;your_team_name&gt;. Place your solution workflow in the same folder of this challenge workflow.Teams are strongly encouraged to submit high-quality work in order to improve their chances of getting maximum points. Don't be afraid to go the extra mile! :)Dataset:Cellular Towers In USA dataset from Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/jahaidulislam/cellular-towers-in-usaDeadline:March 24, 2024 (submission by 11:59 PM CET) **. Check the calendar of the tournament: https://info.knime.com/game-of-nodes** We will verify the date and time of the latest edits.KNIME Game of Nodes:Rules, Assessment Criteria &amp; FAQs: https://info.knime.com/game-of-nodes
Solution_Round_8_Team_AST
Our Proposals Based on the insights gained from the dashboard we have developed, we offer three proposals to support investment planning for the future growth of the U.S. telecommunications network. (1) Proactively invest for low network coverage areas in anticipation of population growth Based on the analysis results of the tool "1. Network Coverage analysis via Area mapping and Population projection", we propose to add cellular towers in Texas and California. From "1-1. Network Coverage by State" and "1-2. Network Coverage Map", we found that these areas have low network coverage rate in terms of area and population. As "1-3. Population projection" indicates, the population in these areas is expected to increase in the future. On the other hand, focusing on Michigan, telecommunication coverage rate is low in terms of population, but the map shows that most of the non-covered areas are on lakes. Also, future population is projected to decrease. In light of the above, we propose to consider the expansion of Cellular towers in Texas and California. (2) Stabilization of Network Environment by Adding Cellular Towers in Densely Populated Areas Based on the analysis results of "2. County-based Coverage area analysis", we propose to increase cellular Towers in densely populated areas. Population#/Tower# in "2-2. Population, Cellular Tower Count, and Population per Tower by County" shows that KINGS and BRONX Counties have a high ratio of population to one cellular tower. The "2-3. County-focused Network Coverage Map" shows the distribution of cellular towers in these areas and the network coverage area by two levels (5 km and 10 km), indicating that there are non-overlapping areas at the 5 km level. It is assumed that network demand is high in these urban centers, and it is necessary to provide a robust network environment by deploying cellular towers in short distances. Based on the above, we propose to consider adding cellular towers in counties with low numbers of towers relative to their population, such as KINGS and BRONX. (3) Next Generation Provider Development Based on the results of the "3. Detailed Analysis of License, Structure Type, & NEPA Percentages for each state" tool, it is clear that the top two companies (VERIZON, AT&T) have a high market share in each state. This oligopoly situation increases the risk of telecommunication failures by over-reliance on a few companies, creating the potential for system-wide dysfunction. In contrast, the central and western states have a large number of firms with low market share in the "others" category. In these regions, consolidation of low-share companies should be promoted to develop the next generation of providers. On the other hand, in some eastern regions, where oligopoly by the top two providers is in progress, we should encourage new providers to enter the market, thereby creating next-generation providers. These efforts should improve network stability and efficiency, benefiting both businesses and consumers. Therefore, we propose to consider fostering the next generation of providers by promoting business consolidation of low-share companies in the central and western regions and by supporting the entry of new providers in the eastern regions.
Comparing calculated state areas based on different CRSs. => We decided to use EPSG:8857 for area calculation.
Please Execute and Open Views
Analysis View
Component
Read data
CSV Reader
Population data
Metanode
Data Preprocessing
Metanode
Confirm the appropriate CRS for area calculation.
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Created by: sryus
Created at: 2024-03-22
On NodePit since: 2024-10-16
Last update: 2026-11-10
Created with KNIME version: v5.3.2
Tags: KNIME Game of NodesTeam AST

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