Broadband Quality Research Articles

Broadband Services Quality of Experience on Public Higher Educational Institution Users: A Research Direction

Internet access is crucial in facilitating effective learning and communication. However, disparities in internet quality persist, especially within Public Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs). Despite efforts by broadband providers to enhance services, complaints regarding quality persist among students and staff. Thus, this research aims to investigate users' Quality of Experience (QoE) with broadband services in PHEI campuses, focusing on coverage, service quality, reliability, and usability. Additionally, it seeks to identify user preferences and usage patterns, correlate broadband quality with user satisfaction, and propose improvements. A comprehensive methodology integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches, including surveys, and interviews is proposed. The implications of this research extend to regulatory and policy actions, including infrastructure improvement, ensuring quality of service, supporting online learning, and encouraging research and innovation in broadband technologies. This study aims to inform stakeholders and contribute to enhancing broadband access and quality in PHEIs, ultimately improving educational outcomes and experiences.

Socioeconomic benefits of high-speed broadband availability and service adoption: A survey

Ubiquitous high-speed fiber-based and mobile broadband availability is a key economic policy goal in the European Union and other developed countries. Policymakers seek to boost economic growth, productivity, and employment, especially in remote areas, through ambitious broadband targets and substantial public funding. This paper reviews the existing (empirical) literature on high-speed broadband Internet and its socioeconomic impact on key outcome variables. Our main findings are that (i) the socioeconomic benefits in terms of economic growth, productivity, house prices, and education, as well as economic resilience, are high but are also subject to diminishing returns beyond a certain broadband quality level, (ii) the effects on employment are more ambiguous, (iii) the positive socioeconomic effects take hold only after broadband adoption on the demand side, but not with mere availability on the supply side, and (iv) the effects of broadband differ significantly for urban vs. rural and high-skilled vs. low-skilled workers for some of the outcome variables. Based on these findings, we develop recommendations for a cost-effective and efficient broadband policy and identify an agenda for research.

Enhancing user experience in home networks with machine learning-based classification

With the rapid development of mobile Internet, home broadband has been integrated into people's daily lives, and the market has become increasingly saturated. User experience and broadband quality have become the key factors determining market competitiveness, and consequently, most operators currently are increasing attention to network quality issues and how to improve user experience. This paper proposes an efficient machine learning model to accurately evaluate home user network experiences. The dataset used encompasses network indicator data from 500 anonymized users, and presents a set of formidable challenges including a non-standard sampling rate and time range, an uneven distribution of observations, multiple recorded observations for identical timestamps, a constrained sample size, a subjective definition of Internet experience, and a lack of essential information regarding the data collection setup. Our novel time series characteristic-based method extracts thousands of descriptive statistics from the time series sequences which reveal that, even in the face of the dataset's inherent complexities, our proposed method excels, achieving an impressive 67% validation accuracy. This represents a substantial 3% enhancement over the performance of conventional models on this dataset. Furthermore, we explore the potential of a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) model, which also yields promising results with a validation accuracy of 58%. It is important to underscore that the performance of the RNN model could be substantially enhanced with a larger dataset. [...]

Roles of Wireless Networks in Bridging the Rural Smart Infrastructural Divide

The past decade has seen a rise in the availability of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) for developing smart societies and communities. However, the smart divide, characterized by inequalities in ICT infrastructures, software access, and individual capabilities, remains a significant barrier for rural communities. Limited empirical studies exist that explore what and how ICT infrastructures can be developed to bridge the smart divide. The paper aimed to address rural broadband access in the context of infrastructural dimensions of smart divide (i.e., smart infrastructural divide) in the United States, focusing on the wireless network infrastructure’s role in narrowing the gap. It examined the broadband specifications needed for smart applications like smart education and telehealth, emphasizing the importance of wireless network capabilities. While fixed broadband offers higher speeds, wireless networks can support many smart applications with decent flexibility and ease of access. To further understand the implications of wireless broadband to rural communities, we conducted a case study in Carbondale and Cairo, two rural towns in Southern Illinois, using on-site user-inspired speed testing. An Android application was developed to measure download/upload speeds and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) for broadband quality. Results suggest both Carbondale and Cairo experienced below-average speeds with high variability among census blocks, which highlights the need for improved wireless network infrastructure. The paper culminated in the technological and policy recommendations to narrow down the smart infrastructural divide.

Retrial Queueing System for Analyzing Impact of Priority Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication Transmission on Enhanced Mobile Broadband Quality of Service Degradation in 5G Networks

Fifth generation (5G) networks support ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). The coexistence of URLLC and eMBB is often organized by non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), giving priority to URLLC and resulting in eMBB quality of service (QoS) degradation. In this paper, we address the issue of joint URLLC and eMBB transmission, focusing on the problem from the perspective of delay-tolerant eMBB. Due to the priority given to URLLC, we assume that an eMBB session may be interrupted if there are no free resources available for URLLC or delayed when a new eMBB session arrives. To make the scheme more flexible, we propose that interrupted and delayed eMBB sessions periodically check for free resources, rather than continuously. To analyze this scenario, we propose a retrial queuing system with two retrial buffers (orbits) for interrupted and delayed eMBB sessions. The stationary probability distribution, provided in matrix form by recursive formulas, is presented. The paper concludes with a numerical example showing that the scheme with two buffers, compared to one buffer, practically doubles the average number of active eMBB sessions while keeping the interruption probability below 0.001. We provide an illustration of the configuration of eMBB retrial rates to meet its QoS requirements.

Cost-effectiveness of fibre optic technology deployment in rural area

Studies have shown that the majority of the global population are migrating from rural to urban areas. People are leaving rural areas due to poor services such as poor broadband service. Fibre optic technology has been introduced as a solution to poor broadband quality. However, as a result of the peculiar characteristics of South Africa's rural areas, the majority of the telecommunication operators are hesitant to invest in ICT in rural areas because it tends to be much less profitable. Hence, the study of how cost-effective it would be to deploy a fibre optic network in rural areas as compared to the current wireless (LTE) network remains an open issue. This study investigates the cost-effectiveness of deploying a fibre optic network in the rural area of Mdantsane township, by analysing the installation and operation costs of fibre optic networks in comparison to the cost of wireless (LTE) networks. The finding of the study amongst others showed that while fibre optic networks seem to be great, however, they come at a cost. The cost of drilling and trenching associated with the deployment of fibre optic networks was reported as the key reason why the network deployment is costly. Hence, reducing the cost of drilling and trenching would reduce the cost significantly. The study suggests that, to lower fibre optic deployment costs, network operators should collaborate and share costs through a customised pricing model that benefits both the operators and rural internet users.

Effects of Market Structure on Broadband Quality in Local U.S. Residential Service Markets

ABSTRACT Does entry and exit of competitors from broadband services markets have large effects on the quality of broadband plans offered to consumers? Answers to this question inform design of subsidies to improved broadband in underserved areas, and antitrust policy. The authors investigate quality effects of entry (or exit) in 2014 legacy (cable and digital subscriber line) duopoly residential markets. Entry or exit by legacy technology providers had large impacts on 2018 service quality, though impacts diminished rapidly with continued entry. Entry by a single fiber Internet service provider (ISP) had no impact on available quality; entry by more fiber ISPs had modest but statistically significant effects.

Towards a Smarter Connected Society By Enhancing Internet Service Providers' Qos Metrics Using Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper analyses wireline broadband Quality of Service (QoS) metrics of India’s small and medium Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used in this analysis are – Fault repair (>90% in 1 working day and >=99% in 3 working days), Response time to customer for voice-to-voice operator assistance (in 60 sec. >60% and in 90 sec. >90%), Broadband connection speed from ISP to node (Download speed) and Service availability/uptime. Benchmarks are arrived at, using the Slack Based Measure (SBM) in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Twenty Decision Making Units (DMUs – ISPs) were used in the analysis with eight of them needing to improve their QoS on some of the mentioned parameters. Relative benchmark providers for all providers needing improvement with their weightage are found and optimal targets by each QOS metric is mathematically arrived at.

Rural Measures: A Quantitative Study of The Rural Digital Divide

ABSTRACT A need exists for the accurate measurement of the rural digital divide to most effectively direct public policy assistance. This study examined: Can the rural-urban digital divide be accurately measured? Two pilot studies were performed to develop, test, and evaluate an inexpensive technology alongside of social science metrics. This methodology measures from the consumer's perspective, matching broadband quality and availability measures with quality of life metrics. The successes and iterative improvement of the scientific approach is detailed. Recommendations for future projects that measure the rural-urban digital divide are provided for consideration to policymakers and researchers.

Impact of broadband quality on median income and unemployment: Evidence from Sweden

Based on a unique and exhaustive database, including micro-level pooled cross-sectional data on 23 million observations over nine years, from 2009 to 2017, we assess whether broadband quality is correlated with income and unemployment reduction. Overall, the results do not tend to show any significant effect of download speed on either income or the unemployment rate. However, after distinguishing between educational attainment and city size, we obtained heterogeneous results. While we the results suggest a substitution effect between high-skilled workers and broadband in small and medium cities, we also show that broadband quality is positively correlated with unemployment reduction for low-skilled workers in small cities with broadband over 100 Mbit/s. However, the economic significance of the effect is rather low.

Mobile broadband quality of service analysis using host-based performance measurements

Mobile broadband since its adoption in Africa has been able to deliver both social and economical dividends to the African people. The increased migration to mobile broadband services in Africa is due to accelerated smartphone adoption rate, increased network roll-out and translation to new and faster technologies. Because technological growth plays a substantial role in society, there is a need for an independent and unbiased assessment of the quality of service offered by mobile broadband infrastructure. However, little work had been carried out on the systematic and consistent investigation of mobile broadband performance monitoring, analysis, evaluation and reporting in Africa. This paper presents a thorough inquiry into the methods employed for end-to-end mobile broadband network measurement, monitoring and experimentation. Policies and recommendations are proposed based on the lessons learnt. Amongst these recommendations is advocacy for the use of a host-based measurement approach for the continued study of mobile broadband performance to assist the various stakeholders to make informed decisions. Furthermore, it was brought to the fore that unsatisfactory broadband speed is not the sole factor that limits the quality of broadband service, and, lastly, significant variations in broadband speed for the same service can be recorded over time due to several complex factors relating to different measurement approaches and conditions.

The quality of service of the deployed LTE technology by mobile network operators in Abuja-Nigeria

In this study, the real-world performance analysis of four Nigerian mobile network operators (MNOs), namely MTN, GLO, Airtel, and 9Mobile long-term evolution (LTE) cellular network, were analyzed and compared. The Nigerian MNOs utilize 5 MHz, 10 MH, and 20 MHz channel bandwidths based on third-generation partnership project’s (3 GPPs) recommendation. The presented analysis shows the uplink (UL), and downlink (DL) throughputs gaps in mobility condition as well as other LTE’s system quality of service (QoS) key performance indicators (KPI’s) of: Connection drop rate, connection failure rate, peak physical downlink throughput, minimum radio link control (RLC) downlink throughput threshold and latency are not strictly followed. The reason may be due to a lack of regulatory oversight enforcement. The comparative studies showed that MTN provides the best QoS. The introduction of novel LTE QoS metrics herein referred to as national independent wireless broadband quality reporting (NIWBQR) is the significant contribution of this study. The goal of this study is to show the quality of the network as it affects the user's experience. Important observation showed that all the MNOs are not adhering to the 3 GPPs specified user plane latency of 30 ms and control plane latency of 100 ms, respectively, which makes video streaming and low latency communication a near-impossible task.

Effects of Market Structure on Broadband Quality in Local U.S. Residential Service Markets

This paper investigates the effects of changes in market structure on residential service quality in local U.S. broadband markets. Our analysis focuses on identifying causal effects on quality from entry (or exit) by firms using both legacy and non-legacy broadband network technologies. We analyze a very large and highly disaggregated census block-level data set we have constructed using Federal Communication Commission (FCC) data on residential broadband services deployment in populated U.S. census blocks between December 2014 and December 2018. We employ a difference-in-differences framework combined with both spatial fixed effects and spatial instrumental variables. The latter econometric tools are used to address unobserved market heterogeneity and concerns about significant error in measured ISP counts for fixed wireless ISPs. Our results suggest that entry by legacy technology (cable and DSL) service providers has large impacts on available service quality in local broadband markets, effects which diminish rapidly with continued entry. Contrary to expectations, entry by a single new fiber ISP seems to have no impact on available quality; entry by two fiber ISPs, by contrast, raises maximum available quality by a modest but statistically significant 90 Mbps. Entry by a fixed wireless ISP appears to have had a large, negative impact on maximum available download speeds offered by incumbent legacy ISPs. Economic explanations for these results are discussed and evaluated. We establish that (i) both fixed wireless and fiber ISPs compete in sets of speed tiers that are distinct from those offered by legacy ISPs, and speculate that (ii) price competition (as opposed to quality competition) may be more intense in markets with fixed wireless entry.

A Program Evaluation of State Based Grant Programs

Thirty states maintain broadband grant and loan programs as of 2020, some of which date to the mid-aughts. Much like their federal counterparts, there is limited research detailing the impacts of state broadband subsidy programs. To help bridge this gap in the literature, this paper tackles two chronically understudied areas, both of which are relevant for state and federal policymakers. First, have state-based grant programs had an impact on broadband adoption in a region? And second, have these changes spurred an appreciable economic effect on recipient communities? To answer these questions, we create a novel dataset of the publicly available grant data from state programs and their support levels. This new dataset was then connected with Federal Communications Commission Form 477 data to test the impact of grants on broadband quality. Following this, the state grant broadband database was coupled with the American Community Survey to estimate the impact of these programs on the unemployment rate and labor force participation rate.

A Review of Cloud Computing Implementation in ASEAN Countries

Cloud Computing is a technology that allows services of the communication, file transfer, infrastructure and platform usage to the user through the internet. In the era of globalisation, each of the countries raced to growth cloud technology as the main part of their industrial development. Similarly, with ASEAN countries, they start using cloud technology as a core part of the industrial revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) to increase their economy and raise productivity. ASEAN already started using cloud computing, but some country has slow progress due to several challenges such as the broadband quality, lack of cloud knowledge and security issues. They require some strategies to address this problem in order to prove the ASEAN can be competitive in the use of technology as it can open up better industrial opportunities. This article reviews the published literature on the implementation of cloud computing in ASEAN. The author systematically analysed a total of 37 selected articles. There were 22 of the articles selected through restrictive search criteria while the other 15 were selected based on unrestrictive search criteria. The review shows the cloud implementation, expose the benefit and challenge to grow a cloud computing in general, and focusing the challenge of ASEAN in cloud computing development. This paper concludes with some recommended future works to construct the theory and perform empirical research.

Technological Innovation and Quality Improvement in U.S. Broadband

The availability and quality of broadband service in the United States has been elevated as a salient policy issue by the migration of both households and firms to online activities in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper investigates the effects of entry by non-incumbent broadband internet service providers (ISPs) making use of innovative, new non-legacy technologies (i.e., fiber and wireless) on residential broadband service quality offered by incumbent legacy (i.e., cable and DSL) ISPs.In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission released major corrections to its previously released Form 477 data on U.S. broadband deployment over the 2014-18 period that greatly reduces estimates of entry by new broadband ISPs into urban census blocks. Overall, entry into U.S. urban broadband markets falls by about half, compared to previously released, uncorrected data.Using data from this and multiple other sources, we build a rich panel data set covering all residential broadband services available, by ISP, technology and maximum advertised download speed for each of approximately six million populated U.S. census blocks between December 2014 and December 2018. In contrast with the previous literature, we utilize highly disaggregated data, control for evolving government subsidies to underserved census blocks, and relax strong statistical and economic assumptions maintained in prior work. This paper explores causal effects by estimating variants of a difference-in-differences model with a rich set of control variables. Our model controls for time-invariant unobservable heterogeneity using census block fixed effects. These allow us to identify the effects of entry of new ISPs on service quality in legacy networks serving urban residential customers in spatially disaggregated local markets. We also study reduced form models explaining ISP entry and assess the strength of candidate instruments to mitigate potential endogeneity caused by measurement error in counts of fixed wireless competitors, as well as possible unobserved time-varying census block heterogeneity relevant to ISP entry and exit.Our results suggest that entry into a 2014 “legacy duopoly” census block (about 40 percent of US census blocks were legacy—cable and DSL—terrestrial broadband duopolies in 2014) by other legacy ISPs had a large and statistically significant impact on improvements to maximum broadband quality offered to consumers by legacy ISPs serving a given block. Increased competition in local broadband markets from such “overbuilding” by established broadband providers seemed to result in significant quality improvements within a block.These results are consistent with a previous empirical literature that shows mixed, but generally positive effects of increased competition on product quality. More striking is the relatively small impact of increased competition on legacy ISP service quality in comparison to the apparent impacts of underlying time trends on legacy broadband speeds, trends that we believe primarily reflect dramatic technological changes over the 2014-18 period.

IPTV vs. emerging video services: Dilemma of telcos to upgrade the broadband

IPTV is an important tool to change business structures and move beyond subscription-based business models for telecom operators. However, the level of IPTV penetration differs among operators, which might be closely related to individual operator's strategy for the broadband market and the regulatory environment. Controlling country-specific business environments, this study identifies the key factors influencing IPTV penetration rates. Results show that broadband penetration, broadband quality, telecommunications service fee, and broadband cap are important factors leading to greater IPTV penetration. This might provide valuable suggestions to telecom operators, such as strategies for leveraging broadband quality and data cap to compete against emerging video services, or bundling strategies with price benefits to convert more broadband users into IPTV subscribers. Comparison of groups differing in IPTV penetration rates, GDP per capital, and percentage of urban population are conducted to gain additional insight into the contextual differences between countries. The results reinforce the importance of constructing high quality broadband infrastructure and taking advantage of bundling plans.

Rigorous broadband study of the intrinsic ferromagnetic linewidth of monocrystalline garnet spheres

This work demonstrates the first application of direct broadband (1 GHz–30 GHz) quality (Q) factor measurements of the uniform precession mode in magnetised garnet spheres for the accurate determination of the room-temperature intrinsic ferromagnetic linewidth (ΔH). The spheres were enclosed in a subwavelength cavity, so that the measured Q-factor depended mainly on their magnetic losses and the conduction losses of the cavity walls. The contribution of the latter is assessed by means of the recently proposed magnetic plasmon resonance model and has been found to be negligible. A total of 10 samples made from commercially available pure yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and gallium-substituted YIG have been measured, differing in diameter and/or saturation magnetisation Ms. The dependence of the intrinsic ΔH on the internal magnetic field is found to have near-perfect linear dependence, which cannot be said about the typically studied extrinsic ΔH even at high frequencies. It is found that the difference between the two linewidths, which becomes significant at low frequencies, can be attributed to a geometric effect. Due to its fundamental nature, this work is applicable not only to magnetic material characterization, but also to the study of the origins of losses in magnetic materials.

Artificial Intelligence and Broadband Development through the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway

This exploratory study aims to identify the main characteristics and relationships between artificial intelligence (AI) and broadband development in Asia and the Pacific. Broadband networks are the foundation and prerequisite for the development of AI. But what types of broadband networks would be conducive are not adequately discussed so far. Furthermore, in addition to broadband networks, other factors, such as income level, broadband quality, and investment, are expected to influence the uptake of AI in the region. The findings are synthesized into a set of policy recommendations at the end of the article, which highlights the need for regional cooperation through an initiative, such as the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS).

Fighting Bundles: The Effects of Competition on Second-Degree Price Discrimination

We study how changes in market structure affect how firms engage in second-degree price discrimination. Specifically, we study how a large incumbent cable firm changes its menu of price-quality offerings and mixed bundles in response to entry. Competition strongly decreases the rate at which prices increase in quality and induces the incumbent to introduce additional medium- to high-quality offerings that the incumbent could have introduced absent competition but chose not to. Our findings are relevant for the broadband industry because they suggest that competition can improve broadband quality through direct pricing effects without any changes in investment in maximum quality. (JEL D21, D22, D43, L13, L42, L82)