Broadband Services Research Articles

Key Enabling-Technologies of 4G and 5G Network

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology and its pivotal role in enhancing 4G (LTE) networks. MIMO technology, characterized by the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver, enables significant improvements in data rates, coverage, and spectral efficiency. The key functionalities of MIMO technology in 4G LTE networks are elucidated, including spatial multiplexing, improved signal quality through spatial diversity, increased coverage via transmit diversity, and enhanced spectral efficiency. MIMO technology enables increased throughput and supports bandwidth-intensive applications like file downloads and video streaming by broadcasting many data streams simultaneously over the same frequency range. Furthermore, the adaptive nature of MIMO systems is discussed, highlighting their ability to dynamically adjust antenna configurations and employ adaptive beam forming techniques. These features optimize performance in real-time, maximizing signal strength, reducing interference, and enhancing overall network reliability. In summary, this paper underscores the critical importance of MIMO technology in 4G LTE networks, showcasing its ability to deliver high-speed broadband services, improve coverage in challenging environments, and efficiently utilize the available spectrum. As the backbone of modern mobile communications, MIMO-enabled 4G networks provide users with seamless connectivity and support the growing demand for data-intensive applications

The Effect of E-CRM towards Brand Loyalty in Fixed Broadband Services with the Mediation of E-Service Quality and Brand Trust

This research purposes to test and analyze the influence of E-CRM, E-Service Quality, Brand Trust, Customer Satisfaction and analyze the role of E-Service Quality and Brand Trust in mediating the influence of E-CRM on brand loyalty in home fixed broadband services. The sampling design used in this research was non-probability sampling with purposive sampling technique. The data processed came from 261 respondents, then the data was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method using SMART-PLS 3.0. The results of this research show that there is a positive influence of E-CRM, E-Service Quality, Brand Trust, Customer Satisfaction on Brand Loyalty .and the positive influence of E-Service Quality and Brand Trust in mediating E-CRM on Brand loyalty. To improve E-CRM, managers can optimize E-CRM on applications and websites through improvements personalization by increasing account activation to prevent unknown people from entering and taking all information by using social media with features that are easy to understand. Apart from that, managers can also optimize E-Service Quality by socializing the use of websites or applications and explaining interesting features about its advantages through media content, to increase brand trust managers need to build a robust system on the web and fixed broadband applications, create a culture of reliability, have metrics that focus on users, while to increase brand loyalty managers need to provide loyalty points or rewards to customers in features -features on the application and website, apart from providing a subscription deposit at the start of a new installation as a customer on fixed broadband services.

Optimization strategy for BTS development in the 3T region in responding to the challenges of the digital gap using a business ecosystem approach: Case study of Telkomsel Regional Sulawesi

Purpose: Communication services have become a primary need for Indonesian society, especially high-speed cellular data services, commonly known as broadband services through cellular networks. Accelerating the development of underdeveloped regions is mandated in Chapter IV of the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia as part of the national aspiration to realize a sovereign, united, sovereign, just, and prosperous Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. On the other hand, telecommunications providers in rural areas, especially in 3T regions, face challenges, as the number of customers does not justify the investment costs, resulting in a burden on the company's investment and operations. This research aims to identify the actors involved, understand the interrelationships between them, and provide an overview of the current BTS development business model in 3T areas. Research methodology: Qualitative methods were used, including data collection through literature studies and in-depth interviews, utilizing an ecosystem mapping approach. Results: Using a business ecosystem approach, this research succeeded in identifying the actors and interactions between actors involved in BTS development in the 3T region, as well as producing ecosystem reconfiguration as a strategy for optimizing BTS development in the 3T region. Limitations: However, the expansion of cellular networks through BTS construction is still uneven, especially in 3T areas (Frontier, Remote, and Underdeveloped). Contribution: This research provides recommendations for optimizing BTS development in 3T areas.

Analysis of the Radiation from a Complex Multi-Conductor Transmission Line

The Deployment of Power Line Transmission (PLT) and the development of new broadband services over the telephone network through technology like xDSL (x Digital Subscriber Line), requires higher data rates, consequently higher bandwidths, and operating frequencies. So it is generally accompanied with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) phenomena, in particular the radiated emissions associated to the deployed system and used cables characteristics. In fact the electrical cable presents variations in their geometry, causing an increase in the electromagnetic radiation. This paper presents a theoretical approach to study a complex transmission line network over ground plane. This approach leads to an analytical expression for the evaluation of P.U.L. parameters of finite length twisted wires lines. These expressions give the capacitances and the inductances values in every point of the cable, the theoretical results are compared to measurements. The formalism is also derived to determine the distribution of the electromagnetic field radiated by Shielded or Unshielded Twisted Pair cables with discontinuity. The obtained results are compared to those provided by a code based on the antenna theory.

6G Goal-Oriented Communications: How to Coexist with Legacy Systems?

6G will connect heterogeneous intelligent agents to make them natively operate complex cooperative tasks. When connecting intelligence, two main research questions arise to identify how artificial intelligence and machine learning models behave depending on (i) their input data quality, affected by errors induced by interference and additive noise during wireless communication; (ii) their contextual effectiveness and resilience to interpret and exploit the meaning behind the data. Both questions are within the realm of semantic and goal-oriented communications. With this paper, we investigate how to effectively share communication spectrum resources between a legacy communication system (i.e., data-oriented) and a new goal-oriented edge intelligence one. Specifically, we address the scenario of an enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service, i.e., a user uploading a video stream to a radio access point, interfering with an edge inference system, in which a user uploads images to a Mobile Edge Host that runs a classification task. Our objective is to achieve, through cooperation, the highest eMBB service data rate, subject to a targeted goal effectiveness of the edge inference service, namely the probability of confident inference on time. We first formalize a general definition of a goal in the context of wireless communications. This includes the goal effectiveness, (i.e., the goal achievability rate, or the probability of achieving the goal), as well as goal cost (i.e., the network resource consumption needed to achieve the goal with target effectiveness). We argue and show, through numerical evaluations, that communication reliability and goal effectiveness are not straightforwardly linked. Then, after a performance evaluation aiming to clarify the difference between communication performance and goal effectiveness, a long-term optimization problem is formulated and solved via Lyapunov stochastic network optimization tools to guarantee the desired target performance. Finally, our numerical results assess the advantages of the proposed optimization and the superiority of the goal-oriented strategy against baseline 5G-compliant legacy approaches, under both stationary and non-stationary communication (and computation) environments.

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES: ENHANCING BROADBAND ACCESS IN RURAL TANZANIA THROUGH SMALL CELL DEPLOYMENT

Aim: The aim of this study is to explores potential performance enhancement to a network infrastructure comprising with Macro-cells only by introducing and deploying cost-effective and adaptable small cell backhaul connections. For the marginalized rural areas and terrain varied areas, the aim is to explore how small cell deployment can bridge this gap and improve connectivity for underserved communities. Methodology: A framework is designed by leveraging LTE-Advanced features and integrating Macro cells and small cells in WinProp tool for wireless propagation and radio network planning. This proposed methodology is analysed through system simulations of a carefully selected practical deployment scenario in Southern Chunya, Tanzania. The path loss data of each pixel point in a study area is collected through this simulation study. The performance metrics of cellular signal transmission such as throughput, signal to interference noise ratio and spectral efficiency are examined through MATLAB tool. Results: The results illustrate that the deployment of small cells with LTE-Advanced features can enhance network coverage and overall quality, particularly in rural regions. The performance metrics of cellular signal transmission such as throughput, signal to interference noise ratio and spectral efficiency applied under this study have all shown improvement for a framework comprises with both macro cells and small cells as compared to a framework with Macro-cell alone. More over the results shows there is better results of throughput at 800MHz frequency band as compared to 2000MHz by little margin. The results were verified by conducting comparative assessment of similar studies. Conclusion The study has shown that small cells are potential for improving last mile connectivity and backhauling. The findings in this study will significantly guide future research and initiatives to bridge the digital divide and promote equitable access to broadband services in Tanzania and similar contexts worldwide.

The profitability of flat-price broadband with an over-the-top subscription content product – benefits from cooperation

We investigate the effect on the broadband market when an over-the-top subscription content product is introduced. Does it necessarily increase or decrease profitability of the broadband product when it (a) boosts the utility of broadband but (b) imposes additional costs to deliver the broadband service? The short answer is it depends. The different scenarios that we choose to illustrate this demonstrate that in many cases, the broadband and content providers can jointly benefit from coordination on how the content product is priced. Empirical evidence confirms that coordination does take place where 'network neutrality' is not mandated. In addition to the illustrative scenarios, we run a large number of simulations with a single broadband and single content provider, restricting the firms to integer prices, for different distributions of the customer valuations. The results show that cooperation between the firms (possibly through paid peering) generally produces better outcomes (also from the consumer point of view) than when the broadband provider reacts by raising the price of broadband independently.

Implementation of 5G Telecommunication Network Services in Indonesia based on Techno-economic Analysis

The 2300 MHz spectrum is a medium band that telco operators will not pay much attention to when they deploy 5G. They are more comfortable at 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz, and 28 GHz, in addition to 700 MHz for the breadth of coverage. The performance of cellular telecommunications services based on 5G technology is possible for new operators, although it will be carried out as stand-alone services. This opportunity will be taken by looking at internet subscriber data/data communication from existing operators as active internet users, which is quite large and has a potential of over 250 million users. There has been no previous study regarding the feasibility of deploying this 5G technology-based Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Network. Based on the experience of implementing previous generations of telecommunication service technology, the government and operators need to be careful in determining the right moment to deploy this 5G technology service, which is predicted to be able to provide broadband services with streaming capabilities of 10 to 100 times the streaming speed of 4G technology. It should be noted that the lack of success of 3G performances in 2006 from 2G, 2.5G, and 2.75 G. Almost all operators who were expected to be very lucky turned out to be not optimal; even now, only 4 operators are playing on 3G. where they have not been able to force users of the 2G generation to switch to 3G, including in big cities where the performance of the 3G network is not yet optimal and evenly distributed. Still, many areas are blank spots from 3G networks and services. From this experience, scientific studies are needed to ensure the feasibility of the upcoming 5G BWA business and identify business opportunities that can be implemented. The feasibility analysis must be viewed from various aspects, namely aspects of technical readiness, market aspects, and financial aspects in terms of the techno-economics of the operators who will provide 5G telecommunications services by calculating several essential parameters as a measure of business feasibility, namely Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PBP).

Implementation of 5G Telecommunication Network Services in Indonesia based on Techno-economic Analysis

The 2300 MHz spectrum is a medium band that telco operators will not pay much attention to when they deploy 5G. They are more comfortable at 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz, and 28 GHz, in addition to 700 MHz for the breadth of coverage. The performance of cellular telecommunications services based on 5G technology is possible for new operators, although it will be carried out as stand-alone services. This opportunity will be taken by looking at internet subscriber data/data communication from existing operators as active internet users, which is quite large and has a potential of over 250 million users. There has been no previous study regarding the feasibility of deploying this 5G technology-based Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Network. Based on the experience of implementing previous generations of telecommunication service technology, the government and operators need to be careful in determining the right moment to deploy this 5G technology service, which is predicted to be able to provide broadband services with streaming capabilities of 10 to 100 times the streaming speed of 4G technology. It should be noted that the lack of success of 3G performances in 2006 from 2G, 2.5G, and 2.75 G. Almost all operators who were expected to be very lucky turned out to be not optimal; even now, only 4 operators are playing on 3G. where they have not been able to force users of the 2G generation to switch to 3G, including in big cities where the performance of the 3G network is not yet optimal and evenly distributed. Still, many areas are blank spots from 3G networks and services. From this experience, scientific studies are needed to ensure the feasibility of the upcoming 5G BWA business and identify business opportunities that can be implemented. The feasibility analysis must be viewed from various aspects, namely aspects of technical readiness, market aspects, and financial aspects in terms of the techno-economics of the operators who will provide 5G telecommunications services by calculating several essential parameters as a measure of business feasibility, namely Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PBP).

Implementation of 5G Telecommunication Network Services in Indonesia based on Techno-economic Analysis

The 2300 MHz spectrum is a medium band that telco operators will not pay much attention to when they deploy 5G. They are more comfortable at 2.6 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 26 GHz, and 28 GHz, in addition to 700 MHz for the breadth of coverage. The performance of cellular telecommunications services based on 5G technology is possible for new operators, although it will be carried out as stand-alone services. This opportunity will be taken by looking at internet subscriber data/data communication from existing operators as active internet users, which is quite large and has a potential of over 250 million users. There has been no previous study regarding the feasibility of deploying this 5G technology-based Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Network. Based on the experience of implementing previous generations of telecommunication service technology, the government and operators need to be careful in determining the right moment to deploy this 5G technology service, which is predicted to be able to provide broadband services with streaming capabilities of 10 to 100 times the streaming speed of 4G technology. It should be noted that the lack of success of 3G performances in 2006 from 2G, 2.5G, and 2.75 G. Almost all operators who were expected to be very lucky turned out to be not optimal; even now, only 4 operators are playing on 3G. where they have not been able to force users of the 2G generation to switch to 3G, including in big cities where the performance of the 3G network is not yet optimal and evenly distributed. Still, many areas are blank spots from 3G networks and services. From this experience, scientific studies are needed to ensure the feasibility of the upcoming 5G BWA business and identify business opportunities that can be implemented. The feasibility analysis must be viewed from various aspects, namely aspects of technical readiness, market aspects, and financial aspects in terms of the techno-economics of the operators who will provide 5G telecommunications services by calculating several essential parameters as a measure of business feasibility, namely Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Payback Period (PBP).

Internet of Things (IoT): An Educational Need

Education around the world is experiencing major paradigm shifts in educational practices of teaching and learning under the umbrella of ICT enable learning environment. The world is witnessing spontaneous growth in communication technology computer network and information technology. Development of new broadband communication services and convergence of telecommunication with computers which can be set to be the internet of things have created numerous possibilities to use a variety of new technology tools for teaching and learning systems. The Internet of things is so much into everything these days that it has started to be called as Internet of everything. It is not very surprising that internet of things, as it is now called has made its way into the education industry as well. Keeping in the mind the intervention of computers and smart phones into our lives and its effect on the educational system today, it. Sounds a bit farfetched at first for the internet of things to do anything with the education industry. While some of the effect that internet of things can bring into the education sector are apparent but some will be implicit and are likely to make a silent change from the inside. The internet of things can begin disrupting the education on procedure as early as kindergarten and can continue to do so through 12th standard but perhaps most profound effects occur in higher education. We will discuss the change that the internet of things can bring into the field of education and the challenges and impact of the internet of things in the 21st century education sector.

Comparative analysis of passive optical networks using multiple parameters: a review

Abstract The desideratum for high-end communication networks and high-speed data transfer has surged exorbitantly in the contemporary era. To meet this demand, various optical access network technologies have been invented and assembled, including gigabit passive optical networks (GPON), Ethernet passive optical networks (EPON), and wavelength multiplexed passive optical networks (WDM-PON). Due to their huge bandwidth capacity, excellent compatibility, dynamic bandwidth allocation, and dispersion tolerance, these technologies constitute potential substitutes for imparting local loop broadband services. This paper presents a thorough review and comparative analysis of the contemporary evolution in optical access network technologies with an accentuate on their functionality, mechanism, manoeuvre, and applications. We are also looking at the upcoming development of these innovations, including the incorporation of 100 G-EPON connectivity to meet the enhanced bandwidth demands precipitated by IP video, mobile broadband, and the Internet of things (IoT).

Enhancing high-speed networks using RGB-based WLAN through Ro-FSO integration in the 5 GHz band

Abstract The limited bandwidth constraints imposed by conventional wireless carriers pose a significant hurdle when it comes to the delivery of high-speed broadband services. In response to this challenge, Radio over Free Space Optics (Ro-FSO) has emerged as a viable and innovative solution, seamlessly amalgamating wireless and optical systems. This integration proves particularly invaluable in sensitive environments, such as hospitals, where the risk of electromagnetic interference disrupting critical medical equipment is a real concern. Ro-FSO offers a disruption-free avenue for high-speed data transmission, positioning it as the ideal choice for broadband services, including Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Within the scope of this study, we introduce a high-speed Ro-FSO link, showcasing the capability to concurrently transmit three independent channels with Red, Green and Blue (RGB) laser respectively, each supporting a robust 1 Gbps data rate. These data streams are skilfully up-converted to the 5 GHz RF bands, encompassing transmission distances of 650 m across the FSO channel. Our numerical simulation findings underscore the successful transmission of all the channels using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), seamlessly meeting the prescribed Bit Error Rate (BER) and eye pattern criteria, solidifying the Ro-FSO’s standing as a promising solution for high-speed broadband delivery.

Hybrid RoF-RoFSO system for broadband services by incorporating polarization division multiplexing scheme

Abstract The limited bandwidth of traditional wireless carriers presents a challenge for delivering high-speed broadband services. To address this, radio-over-free space optics (Ro-FSO) emerges as a viable solution, seamlessly integrating wireless and optical systems. This integration is particularly valuable in sensitive environments such as hospitals, where electromagnetic interference can disrupt medical equipment. Ro-FSO provides interference-free high-speed data transmission, making it an ideal choice for broadband services, including WLANs. This study presents a high-speed Ro-FSO link capable of simultaneously transmitting two independent channels, each carrying 1 Gbps data up-converted to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz RF bands over a 5 km SMF and 4200 m FSO channel. The incorporation of polarization division multiplexing enhances the spectral efficiency of the Ro-FSO link. Our findings demonstrate the successful transmission of both channels meeting the required bit error rate (BER) and eye pattern criteria.

The access to broadband services as a strategy to retain population in the depopulated countryside in Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyze at what extent the connectivity of small localities is a determinant of their demography. Specifically, we pay attention to three factors: the evolution of the population; the distance, measured both in kilometres and travel time, to the province capital, the usual city where the largest set of services is available; and finally, the coverage of different kinds of broadband services (from ADSL or 3.5 G to the fastest ones FTTH) in rural areas. An econometric model was estimated where the dependent variable captures the increase of inhabitants along 2017–2020 of the 5955 Spanish municipalities with a population between 101 and 10,000 inhabitants (73.3 % of all municipalities). The results point out to the following facts: digital connectivity of small localities is a determinant of their demography, whatever the technology used, but physical distance remains being a significant factor on the population growth (both if it is measured of physical distance or travelling time) to explain the population growth of each locality.

Design of Customer Satisfaction Criteria for Telecommunications Operators: Fixed Broadband Services

Customer dissatisfaction is an opportunity lost for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services in expanding its market, it is indicating that the criteria used in designing the loyalty program that being provided to customer are still less precise. This research aims to provide recommendations for telecommunications operator loyalty programs for fixed broadband services based on customer satisfaction’s criteria. This research uses DEMATEL-Based ANP (DANP) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method to get assessment of loyalty program that best fits the customer satisfaction’s criteria. This research resulted in 5 dimensions and 22 criteria of customer satisfaction for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services, where the dimension that most influences is resource and the dimension that is most influenced is relationship. The best loyalty program for telecommunications operators in fixed broadband services at PT X is High Value Customer (HVC), while the worst loyalty program is Customer Application.

IRS-Assisted High-Speed Train Communications: Performance Analysis and Optimal Configuration

High-speed train (HST) communications are envisioned to provide diversified broadband services by integrating with 5G while the high mobility induces fast-fading channels and potentially degrades the system performance. To address this issue, we investigate an HST communication network empowered by intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) with the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. Statistical channel state information (CSI) is exploited to mitigate the impact of the fast time-varying fading. The transceiver beamforming vectors and the IRS phase shift matrix are optimized to improve the system performance in terms of the outage probability and the ergodic capacity considering the channel uncertainty. First, we derive the analytical expression of the outage probability with a generalized Marcum Q-function. Then, we develop an alternating optimization algorithm to minimize the outage probability by capitalizing on the generalized eigenvalue-eigenvectors. Moreover, the ergodic capacity is deduced with statistical CSI and then optimized by analyzing the upper bound with Jensen’s approximation. Extensive simulations show that simulation results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, and the IRS-assisted system significantly outperforms the system without IRS in terms of the outage probability and the ergodic capacity.

A three-level slicing algorithm in a multi-slice multi-numerology context

Fifth generation (5G) mobile networks feature a new concept called Bandwidth Part (BWP) that permits applying various multiple Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier spacing, also coined numerologies, in the same band. With flexible numerology, the sought-after purpose is achieving lower latency for the Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) service. However, the lucrative multiple numerology gains might not stand because of the ensuing Inter-Numerology Interference (INI) problems. In this paper, we assess the feasibility, as well as the profitability, of multi-numerology in a multi-slice setting. In such a context, it is paramount to study the radio resource allocation problem at the Radio Access Network (RAN) level. To that aim, we propose a three-level slicing algorithm that efficiently selects the BWP serving the URLLC users from a set of BWPs using different numerologies, designs a guard band among these BWPs to reduce INI without wasting radio resources, and attributes a bandwidth to each slice depending on multiple parameters such as the users’ Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), channel conditions, INI, and the incurred monetary cost. This work considers the three 5G services, namely the enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) service, the URLLC service and the massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) service. The proposed algorithm combines various tools from Game Theory, Deep-Q learning Networks as well as savvy heuristics. The performance evaluation demonstrates the high efficiency of our solution in terms of latency and throughput compared to well-known approaches in the State-of-the-Art.

Measuring incumbent ISP response to municipal broadband opt-out referenda in Colorado

This paper examines how the quality of Internet service from existing providers is affected when voters in Colorado approve referenda eliminating a barrier to their local governments providing broadband service. Using a difference-in-differences framework, the research design exploits variation in the timing of a community’s approval of a referendum in order to examine whether incumbent private providers adjust their speed offerings in response to the signal that public entry is more likely. Faster upgrades could suggest that incumbents do so to deter public entry or that potential competition is quality-enhancing. Slower upgrades could suggest that public entry threats deter investment in quality. I find no evidence that cable providers’ upgrading behavior responds to the passage of a referendum. However, after a municipality passes a referendum, the largest DSL provider in the state offers speeds in that local area 11%–26% lower than what they would have been otherwise. I find weak evidence that small-time DSL providers substantially upgrade speeds after a referendum passes. Analyses of a referendum’s effect on subscription rates are inconclusive.

User centric metrics for a realistic assessment of broadband services

Past broadband adoption initiatives underscored common wisdom: “We cannot manage what we cannot accurately measure”, “Trust but verify”. Self-reported Federal Communications Commission data has been notoriously unreliable or lacking granularity and that led to an overoptimistic perception of the quality and coverage of broadband services. Data collected in the past was deficient in providing a complete view of the user experience by focusing exclusively on a simple metric, bandwidth availability. Moreover, data collected in the past typically provided a point-in-time perspective on the state of broadband services in each region. In this paper, we discuss a new set of metrics and measurement techniques needed to make broadband funding decisions efficient in terms of quality of services delivered and return on investment, and to track their progress. We propose composite metrics that capture the complete value of the service to the user and emphasize the feasibility of measuring and monitoring such a metric over time.