[1] Alpha users are key elements of any social networks, who manage the connectivity of the core members of the community.
Traditional fixed landline telephone and internet use did not give enough accuracy to be able to pinpoint alpha users to a meaningful degree.
Early research by mathematicians at Xtract[1] in Finland produced models that suggested mobile networks could indeed track the full communication and isolate the alpha users.
Since then, several companies including Xtract have launched commercial tools to detect alpha users, usually using mobile operator billing and telecoms traffic data.
The idea is that consumers will trust more the opinion of their friend or known contact from a social network, than the random marketing and advertising messages of companies and brands.