Mobile Data Plan Research Articles

Towards scalable mobile crowdsensing through device-to-device communication

In mobile crowdsensing, users have a central role providing sensed data using their portable devices. Mobile crowdsensing applications have become quite popular nowadays. However, these applications can be bandwidth eager, big battery drainers, and may demand intensive network usage, which could exceed the allowance of users' mobile data plan. All these aspects may prevent users to contribute sensed data and also get valuable information from the service, which can impact the sustainability of the system. The Device-to-Device (D2D) communication paradigm arises as an approach to relieve data traffic generated by these applications, helping to let the system more sustainable. For instance, devices with a more reliable network connection can offload the network by disseminating data to other devices through D2D communication. However, mobile crowdsensing and D2D communication assume that users cooperate and allow their portable devices to be used for sensing and communication. In this work, we address the cooperation problem in the context of D2D communication to enhance mobile crowdsensing platforms. We first discuss how D2D communication can enhance mobile crowdsensing. Next, we propose and evaluate a general framework joining mobile crowdsensing and D2D communication. This framework abstracts applications defined by the sensing platforms, it decides the communication mode – whether infrastructure or D2D – and which incentive mechanisms must be used to engage participants to cooperate. We show evidence that this new approach could lead to a more sustainable mobile crowdsensing usage.

Webographics and Perceived Service Quality: An Indian E-Retail Context

Despite of rich perceived service quality (PSQ) research in online context there is no known study which has comprehensively explored difference in PSQ within webographic characteristics (WC) of e-shoppers. With the said objective, an online survey has been administered to 308 respondents, who have done at least one e-purchase in past six months from major e-retailers in India. Hypotheses for seven WC i.e. computer experience, internet experience, ability to use internet (webskill), usage level, connection speed, mobile operating system and data plan have been tested by applying Kruskal-Wallis (H Test) and Mann-Whitney test. No significant differences with respect to PSQ within different WC have been found, except within webskill and data plan categories. A post hoc test confirmed statistically significant difference within fair-very good and good-very good webskills with respect to PSQ.

Implementing a Mobile Health System to Integrate the Treatment of Addiction Into Primary Care: A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study.

BackgroundDespite the near ubiquity of mobile phones, little research has been conducted on the implementation of mobile health (mHealth) apps to treat patients in primary care. Although primary care clinicians routinely treat chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes, they rarely treat addiction, a common chronic condition. Instead, addiction is most often treated in the US health care system, if it is treated at all, in a separate behavioral health system. mHealth could help integrate addiction treatment in primary care.ObjectiveThe objective of this paper was to report the effects of implementing an mHealth system for addiction in primary care on both patients and clinicians.MethodsIn this implementation research trial, an evidence-based mHealth system named Seva was introduced sequentially over 36 months to a maximum of 100 patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) in each of three federally qualified health centers (FQHCs; primary care clinics that serve patients regardless of their ability to pay). This paper reports on patient and clinician outcomes organized according to the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework.ResultsThe outcomes according to the RE-AIM framework are as follows: Reach—Seva reached 8.31% (268/3226) of appropriate patients. Reach was limited by our ability to pay for phones and data plans for a maximum of 100 patients per clinic. Effectiveness—Patients who were given Seva had significant improvements in their risky drinking days (44% reduction, (0.7-1.25)/1.25, P=.04), illicit drug-use days (34% reduction, (2.14-3.22)/3.22, P=.01), quality of life, human immunodeficiency virus screening rates, and number of hospitalizations. Through Seva, patients also provided peer support to one another in ways that are novel in primary care settings. Adoption—Patients sustained high levels of Seva use—between 53% and 60% of the patients at the 3 sites accessed Seva during the last week of the 12-month implementation period. Among clinicians, use of the technology was less robust than use by patients, with only a handful of clinicians using Seva in each clinic and behavioral health providers making most referrals to Seva in 2 of the 3 clinics. Implementation—At 2 sites, implementation plans were realized successfully; they were delayed in the third. Maintenance—Use of Seva dropped when grant funding stopped paying for the mobile phones and data plans. Two of the 3 clinics wanted to maintain the use of Seva, but they struggled to find funding to support this.ConclusionsImplementing an mHealth system can improve care among primary care patients with SUDs, and patients using the system can support one another in their recovery. Among clinicians, however, implementation requires figuring out how information from the mHealth system will be used and making mHealth data available in the electronic health (eHealth) record. In addition, paying for an mHealth system remains a challenge.

The Effect of Flipped Classroom on Students’ Engagement

This study investigated the effect of flipped classroom on computer science students’ engagement level among pre-university students. Computer science students were observed to be less engaged during the lecture of information system topic. Students fail to answer questions which need them to apply information system concepts into the real world situation. Hence, the flipped classroom approach is explored to solve the problem. With the increase in the usage of smart phones among students in higher learning institutions, cheaper prices of smart phones, mobile data plan and ready availability of instructional videos on the internet, the flipped classroom approach seems to be a perfect practice to be implemented. Therefore this research made use of the flipped classroom approach to gauge its efficacy on college students. Quasi experimental posttest only design was used in this research. Students were divided into two groups, namely a control group (didactic classroom) consisting of 41 students and an experimental group (flipped classroom) consisting of 43 students. These samples were chosen using purposive sampling. Students in the experimental group were required to watch a micro-lecture prior to coming to class and were involved in engaging activities in the classroom. After the intervention, both groups were measured in terms of their engagement level in class using a four-level Likert scale questionnaire which consisted of four engagement constructs namely behavioral, agentic, cognitive and emotional engagement constructs. Flipped classroom students’ behavioral mean was 3.04, agentic mean was 3.06, cognitive mean was 3.16 and emotional mean 3.42. Findings showed that from the questionnaire, it was clear that the students in the experimental group (flipped classroom) were highly engaged. However, there was not much difference in terms of student engagement in the flipped classroom when compared to the didactic classroom.

Use of an android phone application for automated text messages in international settings: A case study in an HIV clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Reproducible outcomes in clinical trials depend on adherence to study protocol. Short message service (also known as text message) reminders have been shown to improve clinical trial adherence in the United States and elsewhere. However, due to systematic differences in mobile data plans, languages, and technology, these systems are not easily translated to international settings. To gauge technical capabilities for international projects, we developed SMSMessenger, an automated Android application that uses a US server to send medication reminders to participants in a clinical trial in St. Petersburg, Russia (Zinc for HIV disease among alcohol users-a randomized controlled trial in the Russia Alcohol Research Collaboration on HIV/AIDS cohort). The application is downloaded once onto an Android study phone. When it is time for the text message reminders to be sent, study personnel access the application on a local phone, which in turn accesses the existing clinical trial database hosted on a US web server. The application retrieves a list of participants with the following information: phone number, whether a message should be received at that time, and the appropriate text of the message. The application is capable of storing multiple outgoing messages. With a few clicks, text messages are sent to study participants who can reply directly to the message. Study staff can check the local phone for incoming messages. The SMSMessenger application uses an existing clinical trial database and is able to receive real-time updates. All communications between the application and server are encrypted, and phone numbers are stored in a secure database behind a firewall. No sensitive data are stored on the phone, as outgoing messages are sent through the application and not by messaging features on the phone itself. Messages are sent simultaneously to study participants, which reduces the burden on local study staff. Costs and setup are minimal. The only local requirements are an Android phone and data plan. The SMSMessenger technology could be modified to be applied anywhere in the world, in any language, script, or alphabet, and for many different purposes. The novel application of this existing low-cost technology can improve the usefulness of text messaging in advancing the goals of international clinical trials.

At the Edges of the National Digital Platform

Libraries straddle the information needs of the 21st century. The wifi, computers and now mobile hotspots that some libraries provide their patrons are gateways to a broad, important, and sometimes essential information resources. The research summarized here examines how rural libraries negotiate telecommunications environments, and how mobile hotspots might extend libraries' digital significance in marginalized and often resource-poor regions. The Internet has grown tremendously in terms of its centrality to information and entertainment resources of all sorts, but the ability to access the Internet in rural areas typically lags that experienced in urban areas. Not only are networks less available in rural areas, they also often are of lower quality and somewhat more expensive; even mobile phone-based data plans — assuming there are acceptable signals available — may be economically out of reach for people in these areas. With older, lower income and less digitally skilled populations typically living in rural areas, the role of the library and its freely available resources may be especially useful. This research examines libraries' experiences with providing free, mobile hotspot-based access to the Internet in rural areas of Maine and Kansas.

Estimating demand for fixed-line telecommunication bundles

In this study, a stated preference discrete choice experiment is applied to model subscription choices between standardized packages of fixed-line telecommunications services in a sample of individuals in Poland. We provide willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for telephony, broadband and pay TV offered as stand-alone services and dual or triple-play bundles. The main goal of the paper is to investigate substitutability and complementarity between various component services based on estimated valuations. Considerable preference heterogeneity towards fixed-line services is identified and explained by service profile and usage intensity.Broadband is the highest valued among fixed-line services. Fixed-line broadband and pay TV are super additive in valuations indicating complementarity. We obtain evidence of fixed to mobile substitution in voice and data, driven by unlimited mobile voice plans and data plans with higher transfer limit. On methodological grounds, choice-based WTP estimates are more adequate measure of consumer reservation prices for telecommunications services than self-reported valuations.

Webographics and perceived service quality: an Indian e-retail context

Despite of rich perceived service quality (PSQ) research in online context there is no known study which has comprehensively explored difference in PSQ within webographic characteristics (WC) of e-shoppers. With the said objective, an online survey has been administered to 308 respondents, who have done at least one e-purchase in past six months from major e-retailers in India. Hypotheses for seven WC i.e. computer experience, internet experience, ability to use internet (webskill), usage level, connection speed, mobile operating system and data plan have been tested by applying Kruskal-Wallis (H Test) and Mann-Whitney test. No significant differences with respect to PSQ within different WC have been found, except within webskill and data plan categories. A post hoc test confirmed statistically significant difference within fair-very good and good-very good webskills with respect to PSQ.

Webographics and perceived service quality: an Indian e-retail context

Despite of rich perceived service quality (PSQ) research in online context there is no known study which has comprehensively explored difference in PSQ within webographic characteristics (WC) of e-shoppers. With the said objective, an online survey has been administered to 308 respondents, who have done at least one e-purchase in past six months from major e-retailers in India. Hypotheses for seven WC i.e. computer experience, internet experience, ability to use internet (webskill), usage level, connection speed, mobile operating system and data plan have been tested by applying Kruskal-Wallis (H Test) and Mann-Whitney test. No significant differences with respect to PSQ within different WC have been found, except within webskill and data plan categories. A post hoc test confirmed statistically significant difference within fair-very good and good-very good webskills with respect to PSQ.

A Mobile Application Recommendation Framework by Exploiting Personal Preference with Constraints

Explosive mobile applications (Apps) are proliferating with the popularity of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets). These Apps are developed to satisfy different function needs of users. Majority of existing App Stores have difficulty in recommending proper Apps for users. Therefore, it is of significance to recommend mobile Apps for users according to personal preference and various constraints of mobile devices (e.g., battery power). In this paper, we propose a mobile App recommendation framework by incorporating different requirements from users. We exploit modern portfolio theory (MPT) to combine the popularity of mobile Apps, personal preference, and mobile device constraints for mobile App recommendation. Based on this framework, we discuss the recommendation approaches by constraints of phone power and limited mobile data plan. Extensive evaluations show that the proposed mobile App recommendation framework can well adapt to power and network data plan constraints. It satisfies the user App preference and mobile device constraints.

Mobile Health for All: Public-Private Partnerships Can Create a New Mental Health Landscape.

Research has already demonstrated that different mHealth approaches are feasible, acceptable, and clinically promising for people with mental health problems. With a robust evidence base just over the horizon, now is the time for policy makers, researchers, and the private sector to partner in preparation for the near future. The Lifeline Assistance Program is a useful model to draw from. Created in 1985 by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Lifeline is a nationwide program designed to help eligible low-income individuals obtain home phone and landline services so they can pursue employment, reach help in case of emergency, and access social services and healthcare. In 2005, recognizing the broad shift towards mobile technology and mobile-cellular infrastructure, the FCC expanded the program to include mobile phones and data plans. The FCC provides a base level of federal support, but individual states are responsible for regional implementation, including engagement of commercial mobile phone carriers. Given the high rates of disability and poverty among people with severe mental illness, many are eligible to benefit from Lifeline and research has shown that a large proportion does in fact use this program to obtain a mobile phone and data plan. In the singular area of mobile phone use, the gap between people with severe mental illness and the general population in the U.S. is vanishing. Strategic multi-partner programs will be able to grant access to mHealth for mental health programs to those who will not be able to afford them—arguably, the people who need them the most. Mobile technology manufacturing costs are dropping. Soon all mobile phones in the marketplace, including the more inexpensive devices that are made available through subsidy programs, will have “smart” capabilities (ie, internet connectivity and the capacity to host apps). Programs like Lifeline could be expanded to include mHealth resources that capitalize on “smart” functions, such as secure/encrypted clinical texting programs and mental health monitoring and illness-management apps. Mobile phone hardware and software development companies could be engaged to add mHealth programs as a standard component in the suite of tools that come installed on their mobile phones; thus, in addition to navigation apps, media players, and games, the new Android or iPhone could come with guided relaxation videos, medication reminder systems, and evidence-based self-monitoring and self-management tools. Telecommunication companies could be encouraged to offer mHealth options with their data plans. Operating system updates pushed out by the mobile carrier companies could come with optional mHealth applications for those who elect to download them. In the same manner in which the Lifeline Assistance Program has helped increase access to fundamental opportunities to so many low-income individuals, innovative multi-partner programs have the potential to put mHealth for mental health resources in the hands of millions in the years ahead.

Adkintun Mobile: Study of Relation between QoS and QoE in Mobile Networks

With the increase in use of smartphones and mobile data plans, currently being one of the main sources of Internet traffic. Today there is a wide range of services, with millions of applications available to users. Software is in constant development, improving to better suit user requirements. It is important to monitor the quality of service and the quality of experience to understand how the users perceive the services provided. Such is the motivation behind the Adkintun Mobile project, attempting to understand mobile quality of service through passive monitoring. Here we explain a new phase of our project to add a way to collect QoE from users.

Optimal dynamic pricing of mobile data plans in wireless communications

With smartphones sweeping the world, customers use much more data service than voice service nowadays. Because mobile data service occupies much more network capacity than voice, wireless network is frequently congested. We build a dynamic cell phone plan control model where the service provider can decide a subset of plans to open at the beginning of each period. New customers can only subscribe open plans. The dynamic plan control problem is a stochastic programming problem where the system state dimension is exponential in the number of plans and periods. In this paper, we analyze the case when the number of customers approaches positive infinity. In this limiting case, we transform the stochastic dynamic programming problem to an equivalent integer linear programming problem. In a case study, we analyze a large mobile service provider in Asia using 10,000 real individual-level data. Sensitivity analysis implies that a mobile service provider whose initial market share is low can benefit more from the dynamic data plan control.

Video quality vs. mobile data billing plans

Despite extensive research regarding the user willingness to pay under different billing plans and prices it is still unclear how users choose a preferred video quality under existing mobile data plans. This is especially important as the usage of adaptive video delivery servers that make use of different video quality levels is increasing. This study presents the results of assessing user preferences for video quality under three different mobile data billing plans. The results show that the user choice of different quality of video content depends on the billing plans used. It also shows that in the case when the mobile data plan is capped but the user has the possibility to pay extra for the exceeding quantity, s/he will choose higher video quality compared to the same plan in which the bandwidth is throttled when the bandwidth is exceeded. No correlation was found between the user choices and age or gender.

MHealth Clinic Appointment PC Tablet: Implementation, Challenges and Solutions.

Patients requiring daily intravenous (IV) home parenteral nutrition (HPN) would benefit from in-home professional observation to improve self-care, to assess, detect and prevent serious complications. The study aims are to assess the viability and utility of conducting mobile healthcare (mHealth) videoconference assessments with patients managing lifelong daily 12-hour IV nutrition infusions in their homes. The challenges and solutions to implementing mobile personal computer (PC) tablet based clinic appointments are described. A wireless Apple iPad Mini™ mobile touch-screen tablet computer with 5 mega-pixel camera was loaned to patients. Each tablet had Polycom RealPresence software and a fourth generation (4G) mobile telecommunications data plan. These supported audio-visual mobile videoconferencing encrypted connections between health professionals in their offices and HPN patients and their family members in their homes. Patients' and professionals' evaluations of their mHealth clinic experiences are collected. Patients (mean age = 41.9, SD = 2.8 years) had been prescribed 12-hour home parenteral nutrition (HPN) infusions daily due short bowel disorders. Patients had been on HPN from 1 to 10 years (M=4, SD=3.6). Evaluation of clinic appointments revealed that 100% of the patients (n=45) and the professionals (n=6) indicated that they can clearly hear and easily see one another. The mHealth audio-visual interactions were highly rated by patients and family members. Professionals highly rated their ability to obtain a medical history and visual inspection of patients. Several challenges were identified and recommendations for resolutions are described. All patients and professionals highly rated the iPad mHealth clinic appointments for convenience and ease of communicating between homes and offices. An important challenge for all mHealth visits is the clinical professional's ability to make clinically accurate judgments about what they observed and heard from the patients. Following our solutions for obtaining clear visuals with the iPad can improve ability to make clinical assessments.

A Dynamic Structural Model for Heterogeneous Mobile Data Consumption and Promotion Design

This paper studies how individual users who subscribe to limited monthly mobile data plans dynamically consume data on a daily basis. Employing a unique data set on users' daily mobile data usage from a large mobile carrier, we develop a dynamic structural model in which an individual user maximizes her data usage utility by considering the intertemporal trade-off between current and future consumption. The model contains individual-specific utility parameters to fully capture the heterogeneity in consumption behavior across mobile data users. Theoretical properties derived from the model enable us to discover distinct usage patterns for both forward-looking and myopic users. We then empirically test for forward-looking consumption patterns in order to control for possible consumer myopia. For each of the users with forward-looking consumption patterns, we estimate her structural utility parameters such as price sensitivity. We find simulated individual consumption based on our model estimates can correctly capture the dynamic trends observed in the actual individual consumption. We also conduct counterfactual simulations to investigate how month-end promotions and discounts can stimulate individual mobile data consumption and increase carrier profit.

A Dynamic Structural Model for Heterogenous Mobile Data Consumption and Promotion Design

This paper studies how individual users who subscribe to limited monthly mobile data plans dynamically consume data on a daily basis. Employing a unique data set on users' daily mobile data usage from a large mobile carrier, we develop a dynamic structural model in which an individual user maximizes her data usage utility by considering the intertemporal trade-off between current and future consumption. The model contains individual-speci fic utility parameters to fully capture the heterogeneity in consumption behavior across mobile data users. Theoretical properties derived from the model enable us to discover distinct usage patterns for both forward looking and myopic users. We then empirically test for forward-looking consumption patterns in order to control for possible consumer myopia. For each of the users with forward-looking consumption patterns, we estimate her structural utility parameters such as price sensitivity. We find simulated individual consumption based on our model estimates can correctly capture the dynamic trends observed in the actual individual consumption. We also conduct counterfactual simulations to investigate how month-end promotions and discounts can stimulate individual mobile data consumption and increase carrier pro fit.

Facebook for self-empowerment? A study of Facebook adoption in urban India

This article presents an ethnographic study of the adoption and use of Facebook among urban Indian youth from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Mobile-centric use of the Internet is widely prevalent here as general packet radio service (GPRS)-enabled mobile phones and data plans have become increasingly affordable. Less privileged youth are the lead adopters of these new technologies, and typically the first generation of Internet users, in their communities. My research uncovers their leisure-driven engagement with new media, seen through the lens of Facebook use, and the development-friendly outcomes that result from it. By examining the direct and indirect affordances of Facebook perceived by these youth, this article highlights how they swiftly negotiate social boundaries and technological hurdles, transitioning into legitimate members of a global community.

Is Viral Marketing Worth the Trouble? - Evidence from the Diffusion of the iPhone 3G over a Large Social Network

We study the effect of peer influence in the diffusion of the iPhone 3G across a number of communities sampled from a large dataset from a major European Mobile carrier in one country. We identify tight communities of users in which peer influence may play a role and use instrumental variables to control for potential correlation between unobserved subscriber heterogeneity and friends’ adoption. We provide evidence that the propensity of a subscriber to adopt increases with the percentage of friends who have already adopted. During a period of 11 months, we estimate that 14% of the iPhones 3G sold by this carrier were due to peer influence. This result is obtained after controlling for social clustering, gender, previous adoption of mobile Internet data plans, ownership of technologically advanced handsets and heterogeneity in the regions where subscribers move during the day and spend most of their evenings. This result remains qualitatively unchanged when we control for changes over time in the structure of the social network. We provide results from several policy experiments showing that with this level of effect of peer influence the carrier would have hardly benefited from using traditional marketing strategies to seed the iPhone 3G to benefit from viral marketing.