Mobile Broadband Subscriptions Research Articles

Impact of Internet and mobile communication on cyber resilience: a multivariate adaptive regression spline modeling approach

The spread of broadband Internet and the availability of mobile communication services expand access to digital services for businesses and the public alike. However, at the same time, it aggravates the problem of ensuring digital space security, protection against cyber threats, and the fight against cybercrime. This research aims to calculate the index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking for 143 countries, to divide these countries into groups based on this resilience (high, above-average, average, below-average, and low), compare these results with those obtained on the basis of National Cyber Security Index (NCSI), and to identify the impact of the Internet and mobile communication prevalence in a country on this level. The selection of the countries is based on the availability of statistical data for 2022 in the databases of the Surfshark VPN service, and the International Telecommunication Union. The integral index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking is calculated through the multiplicative convolution (with weighted geometric mean) of the number of breached accounts, the Internet penetration probability (penetration into users’ data through the Internet), and the breach density per thousand users. The influence of active mobile broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants), mobile broadband basket (% of Gross National Income Per Capita), mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants), and total fixed broadband subscriptions on the integral index of a country's resilience to cyber-hacking is investigated using multivariate adaptive regression spline. According to the calculations, France, Iceland, Montenegro, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates were the least resistant to cyber hacking in 2022. For countries with high, above-average, and below-average levels of resilience to cyber-hacking, the most relevant factor is the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants). For countries with an average level, it is total fixed broadband subscriptions.

Digitalisation and income inequality in Central and Eastern European countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital technologies in business and daily life. The paper aims to explore the theoretical and empirical aspects of the relation between digitalisation and income inequality in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries between the years 2000-2020. It contributes to existing research on determinants of income inequality, focussing on the potential negative role of digitalisation as an unnoticeable driver of income inequality in CEE countries. To investigate the potential impact of digitalisation on income inequality, empirical analysis was performed for the sample of 10 CEE countries, namely Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. The results of canonical correlation analysis indicated that the sets of variables related to digitalisation and inequality as a group are significantly related to each other and a strong correlation exists between them. The relative contribution of each indicator to each standardised function showed that the highest values of significant standardised coefficients were observed for income inequality indicators such as the top 10% share, the Gini coefficient, and the top 1% share, while in digitalisation measures, the highest value was observed for Internet users and fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions.

Application of Regression Analysis in Forecasting Mobile Broadband Subscriptions Growth for Malaysia

This paper forecasts the growth of Mobile Broadband Subscriptions in Malaysia using regression analysis, specifically focusing on linear regression to model trends. The analysis considers factors such as Mobile Broadband Traffic usage and Fixed Broadband Traffic, especially as the 5G network expands and Mobile Broadband becomes a potential alternative for enterprise and education sectors seeking faster broadband solutions. The study also examines Fixed Broadband Traffic in the context of Fixed Mobile Convergence, which impacts Mobile Broadband Subscription growth rates, necessitating the use of multiple linear regression analysis. This work provides a strategic growth plan for Mobile Broadband Subscriptions, highlighting the potential impact of growth trends. Exponential regression is also applied, offering readers a better understanding and the ability to choose results and analyses that best suit their business needs. Trendline reliability is assessed to measure how well the trendline fits the data, enhancing the accuracy of the regression model. For telecommunication companies, this analysis can help identify potential addressable markets and guide network expansion decisions, as well as inform the development of new mobile broadband plans. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) can use this information to introduce cost-effective mobile broadband devices, while enterprises can strategize their digital transformation efforts based on the findings. The forecast suggests that Mobile Broadband Subscriptions in Malaysia will reach 45.6 million by the second quarter of 2024.

Global Digital Convergence: Impact of Cybersecurity, Business Transparency, Economic Transformation, and AML Efficiency

The article substantiates the existence of convergence processes in the field of digitization of countries, taking into account the number of Internet users; people with advanced skills; and indicators of infrastructure (network coverage, population covered by at least a 3G mobile network, population covered by at least a 4G mobile network), access (access to ICT at home, active mobile broadband subscriptions, fixed broadband subscriptions), enablers (fixed broadband over 10 Mbps, mobile data and voice basket, high consumption) and barriers (improved broadband access from 256 kbps to 2 Mbps and from 2 Mbps to 10 Mbps mobile data and voice basket, low consumption) of digital development. The methodological basis for determining the sigma convergence of digitization processes is the coefficient of variation. The values of the coefficient of variation confirmed the high level of convergence between the studied countries in terms of the degree of use of the Internet for conducting digital transactions. The developed econometric model, which describes the influence of statistically significant integral indicators of the national cybersecurity level, ease of doing business, and the anti-money laundering index on the country’s digital development level, made it possible to determine the average trend of dependence on the level of digital development. One hundred four countries were considered for the analysis. The conducted study of the impact of digitalization on economic transformations based on developed quantile regressions made it possible to analyze exactly how the level of digital development for countries with a high level of digitalization and for countries with a low level of digitalization development depends on the value of the national cybersecurity indicator and the ease of doing business, and which countries have the least resistance to the risk factors of their involvement in fraudulent schemes for the purpose of legalizing criminal income.

Modeling of Mobile and Fixed Broadband Subscriptions of Countries with Fractional Calculus

Abstract Today, operators have become the resource of telecommunications data. Therefore, knowledge about subscriptions is easily available for most countries. In recent years, high-speed mobile internet access subscriptions are also increasing rapidly. There are two important subscriptions reviewed by The International Telecommunication Union (ITU): mobile broadband (MBB) subscriptions and Fixed broadband (FBB) subscriptions. In this study, we proposed an original mathematical model employing the fractional analysis theory and evaluate its validity by modeling the mobile broadband and fixed broadband subscriptions of six countries including France, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. Later, we compared the Fractional Model we developed with the Polynomial Model. The results show that the Fractional Model is superior to the conventional Polynomial Model in modeling broadband subscriptions. For all selected countries, our proposed Fractional approach outperforms conventional polynomial regression. For all investigation categories, on average, the fractional approach works better by at least 10% and at most 30%.

ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT (REVIEW. PART I)

Resilient networks are the foundation for continued digitalization of societies and industries. Continuous network modernization and coverage build-out has led to several hundred million people becoming new mobile broadband subscribers every year. 5G is scaling faster than any previous mobile generation and we expect 5G subscriptions to reach 1 billion by the end of 2022. In several regions, deployment of 5G standalone networks is also picking up pace, as communications service providers prepare for innovation to address the business opportunities beyond enhanced mobile broadband. A solid digital network infrastructure underpins enterprises’ digital transformation plans, and their new capabilities can be turned into new customer services. As exemplified in this edition, service providers are looking to expand out of pure connectivity into service enablement platforms. Global mobile network data traffic has doubled in the last two years, driven by continuing growth in smartphone usage, mobile broadband and now the digitalization of societies and industries. But traffic is not the only thing that grows. The ongoing war in Europe, as well as increased geopolitical tension in the world, leads to a range of global threats – economic as well as social – that must be navigated. And in our field of networking, the threat landscape calls for constant diligence in keeping ahead with security. You can read more about security in this edition. Managing the continued strong traffic growth while reducing energy consumption is also a top priority. Older technologies are being replaced by continuous build-out of 4G and 5G networks, substantially improving network performance and energy efficiency with each generation. 5G technologies play a key role in modernization, providing multiples of capacity while becoming more energy efficient. Innovative network technologies enable service providers to introduce new services that in turn support societies and enterprises to reduce their carbon emission footprint. In this edition, we share some examples of how 4G and 5G technologies make it possible to unleash the power of IoT connectivity to enhance both enterprises’ business performance and sustainability.

Цифрова економіка як складова розвитку системи публічного управління

Розглянуто особливості цифрової економіки як складової розвитку системи публічного управління. Проаналізовано дефініцію цифрової економіки з позиції різних науковців та представлено власне розуміння досліджуваного поняття. Виокремлено проблеми, які пов’язані із впровадженням цифрових технологій в економічну сферу України. Обґрунтовано кроки, які повинна здійснити Україна на шляху подолання проблем розвитку цифрової економіки.

A Statistical Analysis on The Effects of a Nation’s Individual Network Usage on A Business’s Capacity for Innovation

Correction: At the request of the author, on 17th October 2022, the name of the author was changed FROM Charles Alba TO Muhammad C. Alba. In this paper, we aimed to look at a Nations Individual Network usage and its effects on a business’s capacity for innovation. We do so through the utilization of data from 2016 World Economic Forum (WEF) Networked Readiness Index report. In order to best determine the effects of a Nations Individual Network usage on a business’s capacity for innovation, we create the most suitable supervised Machine Learning model through stepwise regression. We did so with the use of the numerous variables in the 6th pillar of the Network Readiness report, which reflect a nations individual network usage, against the Capacity for innovation Index found in the 7th pillar of the Network Readiness Index. Of the 6 initial prior variables in the 6th Pillar reflecting Individual Network Usage, stepwise regression outputs a best fit and an appropriate model that contains predictors “Use of virtual social networks”, “Rate of Mobile broadband subscriptions” and “Rate of Mobile phone subscriptions” as significant factors in predicting a Business’s Capacity for innovation. The results are utilized to make policy-proposals to both governments and businesses with the aim of improving a nations Business’s Capacity for Innovation. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 7, Issue-3: 113-130

Quality of Service (QoS) Optimization in Mobile Broadband Using Cloud-Based Content Delivery Network

Mobile broadband utilizing Long-Term Evolution (LTE) has advanced the field of data transmission; with networks capable of providing broadband speeds to mobile broadband users. There has been a sporadic increase in the utilization of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks, but due to the rapid growth and utilization of network links and network services, certain issues begin to rise, such as the issue of poor Quality of Service (QoS) perceived by mobile users. Data network quality of service degrades over time when network cannot keep up with the growing demand for the network resources. The research reviewed various existing content delivery network models in order to understand the overall architecture and operations. An optimized model was developed and integrated into the existing Long-Term Evolution network models. The model was evaluated using the Network Simulator (NS-3) and Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, such as, Network Throughput, Round Trip Time, Bandwidth, Packet Loss, Jitter and Connection Ratio. The results obtained from the simulations showed that the optimized model performed better and more efficiently than previous solutions. And if implemented in Mobile Broadband, this will improve the Quality of Service, network throughput and overall performance of the network. This study concluded that cloud-based content delivery network provides a solution which would help improve the Quality of Service experience by Mobile Broadband subscribers. By actively redirecting network traffic to the nearest replica server on the network edge; thus, increasing efficiency and throughput.

Throughput improvement in partially crowded indoor areas

Abstract In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people using advanced mobile devices, leading to a jump in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions and network traffic. In most instances such users tend to operate in indoor areas which then become crowded. The resulting high density of demand for connection to the network and the attendant interference among the user devices tend to overload the network and degrade its performance. This paper reports on the deployment of small cells in crowded indoor areas, as a solution to provide broadband services to the users. The results show that improved performance is achieved when small cells are deployed to offload traffic from the macro cells.Keywords: Indoor broadband, LTE, Small cells, Throughput.

JSDoop and TensorFlow.js: Volunteer Distributed Web Browser-Based Neural Network Training

In 2019, around 57\% of the population of the world has broadband access to the Internet. Moreover, there are 5.9 billion mobile broadband subscriptions, i.e., 1.3 subscriptions per user. So there is an enormous interconnected computational power held by users all around the world. Also, it is estimated that Internet users spend more than six and a half hours online every day. But in spite of being a great amount of time, those resources are idle most of the day. Therefore, taking advantage of them presents an interesting opportunity. In this study, we introduce JSDoop, a prototype implementation to profit from this opportunity. In particular, we propose a volunteer web browser-based high-performance computing library. JSdoop divides a problem into tasks and uses different queues to distribute the computation. Then, volunteers access the web page of the problem and start processing the tasks in their web browsers. We conducted a proof-of-concept using our proposal and TensorFlow.js to train a recurrent neural network that predicts text. We tested it in a computer cluster and with up to 32 volunteers. The experimental results show that training a neural network in distributed web browsers is feasible and accurate, has a high scalability, and it is an interesting area for research.

Technology, Education, Life and Non-Life Insurance in Africa

This article examines the relevance of information and communication technology (ICT) in modulating the effect of education on life insurance and non-life insurance consumption in 48 African countries for the period 2004-2014. Education is measured with primary school, secondary school and tertiary school enrollments. ICT is measured with mobile phone, internet and broadband subscriptions. The empirical evidence is based on generalized method of moments. The following main findings are established. First, from the nexuses between education, ICT and life insurance, there are positive conditional effects from the interaction between: (i) broadband subscriptions and primary school enrollment; (ii) broadband subscriptions and secondary school enrollment and (iii) internet penetration and tertiary school enrollment. Second, from the nexuses between education, ICT and non-life insurance: (i) there is a negative net effect from the interactions between mobile phone penetration and primary education while positive net effects are apparent from the interactions between: mobile phone penetration and secondary school enrollment; secondary school enrollment and broadband subscriptions and; tertiary school enrollment and broadband subscriptions.

Cooperative caching for HTTP-based adaptive streaming contents in cache-enabled radio access networks

The rapid growth of the number of mobile broadband subscribers has led to an exponential increase of the Internet traffic, of which a major part is video traffic. In 4G/5G mobile networks, the eNBs should cache the popular contents to reduce the transit cost at the backhaul links. Recently, HTTP-based adaptive streaming is widely used to transfer the video contents to the end users in the Internet. With HTTP-based adaptive streaming, each video content is stored in several representations corresponding to different video performances. The representation with a better performance yields a higher user satisfaction, however, it consumes more storage and transit cost. In this paper, we propose a cooperative caching model in which the eNBs collaborate in caching and request routing the video contents. The proposed optimization problem is a large-scale integer linear program which is an NP-hard problem. Based on alternating direction method of multipliers technique, a distributed algorithm converging to the solution to the relaxation problem is then developed. It results to fractional caching and request routing which serve as a performance benchmark of the cooperative caching. Moreover, we propose a nearest-neighbor request routing policy and a lightweight-cooperative eviction algorithm for integral caching. Extensive simulations show that the proposed request routing and eviction algorithms achieve more than 78% of the performance benchmark.

The Impact of Broadband Access on GDP per Capita : The Case of OECD Countries

This paper investigated the possible relationship between the access of broadband and GDP per capita in 34 OECD countries for a 5-year period between 2009 to 2014. The data was collected from OECD's website as of April 2016. The relationship between broadband access and economic outputs at the macro-economic level was studied to add more knowledge and empirical evidence to the broadband studies, which have been conducted only on historical data. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted on the data to explore the relations and impact of fixed broadband and wireless mobile broadband subscriptions on the GDP per capita in the seven allocated regions of the OECD countries. The findings confirmed that broadband penetration contributed to the growth of GDP per capita in some regions, while it had a negative impact on others, which was in line with some of the earlier literature. The results revealed a better understanding of the differences in behavioral pattern of each region regarding the broadband access that had a strong negative impact on some of the developing countries' GDP such as region three and five (East Europe and Middle East), while other developed countries like region four (West Europe) did not demonstrate the growth of GDP by the contribution of broadband. Finally, we recommended using a disaggregated dataset for future research to get more insights.

Assessment of the Structure, Conduct, and Performance of the Philippine Telecommunications Industry

Assessment of the Structure, Conduct, and Performance of the Philippine Telecommunications Industry

The performance of network-controlled mobile data offloading from LTE to WiFi networks

Global mobile data traffic consumption and usage continues to increase rapidly leading to congested networks. Currently, cellular networks are overloaded with mobile data traffic due to the rapid growth of mobile broadband subscriptions and the increasing popularity of diversified applications for smartphones with multiple wireless interfaces and the flat-rate pricing model of cellular networks. One possible practical solution to alleviate this problem is the offloading of mobile data traffic from the primary access technology to the WiFi infrastructure to gain extra capacity and improve the overall network performance. As the strategy what and when to offload data is non-trivial, it is of vital importance to develop novel algorithms to guide this process. This paper addresses solutions for network-controlled WiFi offloading in Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks when performance needs exceed the capability of the LTE access. It then compares the performance of each access technology using different network performance metrics. In detail, an optimized signal-to-noise ratio-threshold based handover solution and extension to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standard for Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) framework for WiFi offloading is proposed. Our simulation results have shown that ANDSF discovery can be used to control the amount of WiFi offloading.

Overestimating Wireless Demand: Policy and Investment Implications of Upward Bias in Mobile Data Forecasts

It is now taken almost as a matter of faith among telecommunications professionals that there is a “spectrum crunch” precipitated by ever-growing demand for mobile broadband. This, in turn, has driven a strong policy consensus among industry and policymakers for the U.S. federal government to actively make available to mobile network operators (MNOs) vast new swathes of spectral resources via exclusive-use licenses. In the National Broadband Plan, for example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) argued that “[t]he growth of wireless broadband will be constrained if government does not make spectrum available to enable network expansion and technology upgrades.” The White House has taken up this cause as well, issuing a memorandum calling for 500 MHz of new spectrum to be made available for mobile and wireless broadband by 2020 and making new spectrum resources central to policies supporting “everything from smart phones to wireless broadband connectivity for laptops to new forms of machine-to-machine communication within a decade.” Similar efforts to free up spectrum for mobile broadband are taking place across the globe. It is indisputable that mobile connectivity, driven by new technological de-velopments in materials, miniaturization, and computing, has increased dra-matically around the world and radically transformed economic and social life. Both mobile subscriptions and the amount of data traversing mobile net-works has increased substantially in the past several years; by the end of 2014, there were an estimated 2.3 billion mobile broadband subscriptions globally, almost five times as many as in 2008. At the same time, decisions about spectrum should not and cannot be made lightly due to the physically limited nature of spectrum and the corresponding strong public interest in efficient spectrum allocation. Regulators must con-sider social, equity, public safety, environmental, and other factors in addition to economic impacts when determining whether and how to repurpose spec-trum. Furthermore, freeing up “new” spectrum is only one of several mecha-nisms for dealing with increasing mobile demand, and exclusive-use licenses are one among many different management options for spectrum bands. Alt-hough conventional spectrum wisdom highlights making new exclusive-use allocations available to MNOs, this may not be the most efficient or socially beneficial decision in all cases. It is exactly these kinds of concerns that led to calls in the National Broadband Plan for the U.S. government to make spectrum allocation and licensing data more accessible, as the “complexity of the [existing] system and the resulting lack of transparency and usability create impediments to public policy and limit the emergence of new technologies that could employ such data to optimize use of the spectrum automatically.” In this paper, we examine the provenance, reliability, and uses of mobile demand forecasts and find that several highly visible spectrum demand esti-mates over the past several years have exceeded actual traffic, which may have biased spectrum allocation decisions and policies in socially suboptimal ways. These reports include Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) esti-mates, which are commonly cited in government and industry reports, includ-ing the National Broadband Plan, as well as estimates endorsed in ITU’s WRC-07. We explore potential technological, economic, and sociological fac-tors that may drive these biases, as well as possible solutions and policy reme-dies. This paper is not meant to imply any deliberate misrepresentation from any party, although this is certainly possible when billions of dollars are at stake, as with spectrum policy. Rather, the paper investigates various potential sources of bias and methods to mitigate such risks, in the hopes that it might inform businesses, regulators, and the general public about how to better allocate and manage finite spectrum resources.Neither does this analysis imply that making any new, exclusive-use availa-ble for mobile broadband is the suboptimal policy decision. In the near future, such reallocations provide benefits to both MNOs and the general public through deficit reduction and economic multipliers. Rather, it suggests addi-tional caution and scrutiny are warranted for long-term spectrum policy deci-sions, rather than a blind faith about ever-increasing mobile data demand. In these cases, especially, policymakers should push for new, higher quality data before committing to long-term policies as well as favor flexibility and revers-ibility in their decision-making.

Abstract 156: Assessing the readiness and interest towards electronic means of communication among patients at Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Background: Some research has been done into using mobile phones as a means of communication with patients. It has been shown to improve medication adherence among chronically ill patients. As of December 2012 , more than 89% of the US inhabitants have mobile broadband subscriptions .This opens up the potential for Smartphone applications and also patient portals, above and beyond text messaging for patient communication. Objectives: To assess the readiness, interest and barriers of low income minority patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) towards adopting 1) Text messaging , Smartphone applications , Patient portals as means of communication with providers. 2)Compare technology adoption in immigrant versus non-immigrant populations. Methods: This study is part of the Office- Guidelines Applied to Practice (Office-GAP) project, designed to improve secondary prevention of heart disease for DM and CVD patients in FQHCs (Federally Qualified Health Centers) in Michigan. We analyzed 119 out of the 242 patients that participated in Office-GAP group visits (June 2013-January 2014) and completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluated their readiness , interest and barriers towards electronic means of communication . Chart abstraction was performed for relevant data by trained research assistants. Descriptive analysis was performed on the cross sectional data thus obtained. Results: Study population is 53 % (63 of 119) non-immigrant , 47% (56 of 119) immigrant. Mean age is 53.69 (33.07% males) and 57.1% (68 of 119) of our patient population has a cellphone with non-immigrants having higher access (74.6 vs 37.5%) compared to immigrants. Text messages can be sent and received by 37.8% (45 of 119) with 21.1% (25 of 118) having to pay extra charges for texts and 25.7% (30 of 117) want texts from the doctors office. A landline is available to 54% (64 of 119) and 48.2% (56 of 116) want voicemails. Out of our population with both a landline and cellphone 57 %(60 of 106) prefer landline. Only 10 % (12 of 119) of our population can use a computer very well and 55% (65 of 119) cannot use a computer at all , 35%(42 of 119) have access to internet and email and 52.3%(22 of 42) want emails from their doctors office. Seven percent (4 of 58) would like to have access to their medical information online by means of a patient portal. Three percent (2 of 58) have a smartphone and 1.7% (1 of 58) would like a Smartphone application for accessing their medical records. Conclusion: Minority and low-income patients with DM and CVD may eventually be ready for adopting more technology as a means of communication with their provider as technology gets cheaper and trivialized . Current readiness and interest to adoption is lower among immigrant compared to non immigrant population. More research is needed to determine the barriers to adopting technology for secondary prevention of heart disease.

Leveraging information technology to bridge the health workforce gap.

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that, in only four years (2007–2011), mobile broadband subscriptions in the developing world increased by more than tenfold: from 43 million to 458 million. Mobile de-vices and internet access are becoming increasingly necessary professional tools for health-care workers at all levels in developing countries. New fibre and wireless infrastructure, as well as the rapid growth of computer processing power, provide an unprecedented op-portunity to scale up health worker training and improve its quality, as well as to optimize health service delivery and strengthen health systems.Over the past 20 years, learning management systems have contributed greatly to the tremendous expansion of e-learning. The past five years have also seen an increase in massive open online courses. eHealth technologies, including electronic medical records, laboratory and pharmacy information systems, along with disease surveil-lance and supply chain information systems, are transforming health care. Mobile health (mHealth), which is the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices, extends these systems to the most remote and inaccessible parts of the developing world. In addition, the same mobile devices used to optimize communica-tion and support front-line health-care workers can be used to deploy multi-media training programmes and clini -cal decision support tools. The social media and the development of com-munities of practice have yet to be fully mobilized to support health workforce capacity building. The use of the social media by health workers has several potential benefits. Some examples are crowdsourcing of educational content, translations and localization (i.e. ad-aptation of the content to a particular region), peer-to-peer learning, joint problem solving and reflective prac-tice. In addition, ICTs can strengthen communication between providers and patients, increase community support for health worker capacity building and heighten the demand for high-quality clinical services.E-learning tools can support cur-riculum development and course sched -uling and management in ways that are conducive to blended learning approaches and that take advantage of multiple learning environments. Such tools can also be linked with national health professional registration and licensure systems, as well as with health workforce planning, management and in-service training systems, to provide information and support to the health workforce throughout the health worker lifecycle. Following pre-service train-ing, ICTs can be used to optimize the work of a health-care provider – the use of electronic health records, clinical decision-making, supply chain manage -ment and service quality control are examples – and to facilitate mHealth communications, continuing education and the establishment of professional social networks.Training methods based on video conferencing, webcasting, recording, localization and playback of training can enable global access to the very best educators and are more cost-effective than standard face-to-face educational programmes. Interactive content pro-grammes that incorporate gaming and adaptive learning tools can also be used.

Quality of Service Drivers in LTE and LTE-A Networks

In the last years, cellular operators have experienced a rapid growth of mobile broadband subscribers and traffic volume per subscriber. At the same time, operators are moving from a single to a multi-service offering by adding new services such as multimedia telephony and mobile-TV. In this challenging scenario, the Quality of Service (QoS) concept provides network and service operators with a set of tools to enable service and subscriber differentiation. This paper presents an overview of the QoS drivers in Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks, focusing on their QoS policy control capabilities. Proposals of policy control and management for increasing the QoS in LTE and LTE-A networks are described. This paper also includes a detailed list and analysis of the inputs to the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) that can be used for policy decision as well as a set of use cases involving the Policy and Charging Control architecture: (1) the analysis of a potential cooperation between the PCRF and a Deep Packet Inspector, and (2) the analysis of a potential interaction between the PCRF and the radio scheduler to provide a consistent end-to-end QoS.