Evaluation of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Network Variability for the Safety of Life and Property along the Oron-Calabar Waterway

Evans U.F.^1*, Dominic K.O.², and Esin J.²

¹Department of Science, Physics Unit, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

²Department of Meteorology and Oceanography, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

Accepted March 20, 2017

The study is aimed at evaluating the GSM network variability along the Oron-Calabar waterway using the four most used cellular network systems (Etisalat, Globacom, MTN and Airtel) in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Nigeria. As observed, most water craft using this water route are not installed with Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems (GMDSS) to aid rapid alerting of shore-based rescue or vessels in the immediate vicinity or communications authorities in the event of an emergency. The lack of improved means of locating rescue team during impending water disaster along the Oron-Calabar waterway has informed this study. The study deployed GSM network cell information lite monitor version 3.15.2 APK to measure the signal strength and quality for the selected network at 1hr intervals along the waterway. To establish the variability among the selected network systems, data obtained were subjected to ANOVA statistics. The results show signal strength mean values of -93.0dBm,-95.0dBm,-101.7dBm and -103.6dBm for Airtel, Etisalat, Globacom and MTN network systems respectively. Similarly, the signal quality evaluated along the waterway shows the mean values of 10.05, 8.47, 5.98 and 5.52 for Airtel, Globacom, Etisalat and MTN respectively, with significant variations for Globacom and Etisalat (p<0.05). The result further unraveled that, there was no statistically significant variation in the signal strength of Airtel and MTN networks (p>0.05) along the waterway, contrary to Globacom and Etisalat networks. The study hereby recommends that, navigators as well as customers using this waterway should prioritize Airtel sim card during voyage.

Key words: Security, GSM, Signal Strength, Signal Quality and Waterway.

Full Text PDF (642KB)