Mobile Subscribers Research Articles

The health and environmental risks and rewards of modernity that shape scientific optimism.

Individuals in high-income countries increasingly express less scientific optimism than in lower-income societies. In this article, we utilize risk society theory to understand the complicated relationship between individual- and country-level factors, and optimism toward the role of science in society in "reflexively modern" societies. We use multilevel modeling with 16 high-income countries to determine the individual-level and country-level factors that shape scientific optimism. Next, we look at the individual characteristics that affect scientific optimism in each country individually. At the individual level, we find that older people, the more highly educated and higher earning, those farther to the Right on the political spectrum, and those with more materialist (rather than postmaterialist) attitudes have higher scientific optimism, while more religious people have lower optimism regarding science. At the country level, we make a corollary argument about materialism: societies that have higher measles immunization rates, generate more electricity from fossil fuels, and have a greater percentage of mobile phone subscriptions, have populaces that are more optimistic toward science.

The heterogeneous effect of ICT on countries with different levels of ecological degradation and income: A panel quantile approach

Existing studies concerning the nexus between Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the environment have consistently reported findings of an average effect of ICT on environmental degradation. However, false conclusions can be drawn by ignoring that the degree of environmental quality differs across countries and relying solely on ICT's average impact. The present study argued that ICT's impact on the environment differs between countries with different levels of ecological degradation and income. This argument was addressed by employing Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) on panel data spanning 50 high-income economies, 49 upper-middle-income economies, and 72 low-income economies between 2000 and 2020. ICT infrastructure in each country was measured by combining fixed broadband and mobile cellular subscriptions. At the same time, environmental quality was measured by the ecological footprint. According to the PQR analysis, expanding ICT services was associated with a significant deterioration in environmental quality in countries with healthy ecological systems, regardless of income level. In contrast, developing ICT sectors improved the environment in countries with highly degrading environments. Based on this study's findings, a threshold level of the ecological footprint (rather than ICT) existed, after which expanding ICT services improved the environment. In this regard, this study's findings indicated that generalising the benefits of expanding ICT services on the environment is misleading. Consequently, this paper has provided different recommendations and policy implications for each income group.

From 5G to beyond 5G: A Comprehensive Survey of Wireless Network Evolution, Challenges, and Promising Technologies

The histrionic growth of mobile subscribers, disruptive ecosystems such as IoT-based applications, and astounding channel capacity requirements to connect trillions of devices are massive challenges of the earlier mobile generations, 5G turned up the key solution. The prime objective of the 5G network is not only to maintain a 1000-fold capacity gain and 10 Giga Bits per second delivered to a single user, but it also assured quality-of-service, higher spectral efficiency, the ultra-reliable and improved battery lifetime of devices and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). The huge traffic load and high amount of resource consumption in 5G applications, augmented reality and virtual reality for magnificent virtual experience, and wireless body area networks will seriously affect the channel capacity of cellular cells and interrupt the admission and service of other users which makes compulsory new means of channel capacity and spectral efficiency enhancement techniques. In this research, we review several key emerging wireless technologies to increase channel capacity and spectral efficiency that will not only lead to improve network performance but also meets the ever-increasing user demands. We investigate various benefits and current research challenges of using these technologies. We analyze massive multi-input multi-output technology (mMIMO) an efficient technique and promising solution for the 5G and Beyond 5G (B5G) networks with several benefits and features. Moreover, this paper will be of vast help to the researchers who will involve advance investigation and also to the wireless network operator industry that is in the search for smooth development of state-of-the-art 5G and B5G networks.

Improved SRP algorithm and bidirectional heterogeneous LTE‐R authentication key

AbstractDue to the problems that International Mobile Subscriber Identity is not encrypted during transmission, key disclosure, and high authentication overhead in Evolved Packet System‐Authentication and Key Agreement, the next generation of high‐speed railway Long‐Term Evolution for Railway train ground authentication protocol, this paper describes the improved Secure Remote Password algorithm and two‐way heterogeneous Long‐Term Evolution for Railway authentication key agreement scheme. First, the improved Secure Remote Password algorithm is used to encrypt the message transmission between User Equipment and Mobility Management Entity, solving the problem of International Mobile Subscriber Identity being not encrypted during transmission. Then, a two‐way heterogeneous digital signature method of Public Key Infrastructure and Identity‐Based Cryptosystem is proposed to authenticate and negotiate with the Mobility Management Entity and Home Subscriber Server, which improves the security of the root key and can effectively prevent man in the middle, replay and other attacks. Finally, in the research results, the random oracle model is used to verify, and the results show that our method is superior to the comparison method in security and authentication cost, and can meet the Long‐Term Evolution for Railway communication requirements.

ICT adoption and youth employment in Nigeria's agricultural sector

PurposeThis paper argues that through information and communication technology (ICT) adoption, the youth will be engaged in all nodes of the agricultural value chains, thereby improving the level of employment and reducing post-harvest losses. The study examines the determinants of ICT adoption among the youth. In addition, it estimates the impact of ICT adoption on youth employment in agriculture towards the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG-8, to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all.Design/methodology/approachThe study engages data from Wave 4 (2018/2019) of the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). The logit regression, the propensity score matching and the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment are used as the estimation techniques.FindingsThe study underscores that educational level, access to electricity, location, age and income are significant determinants of ICT adoption among the youth. The findings also show that the youth's average weekly engagement in agricultural activities is about 24 h. In addition, the result reveals that ICT adoption can increase youth agricultural employment by approximately 21%. The mean difference indicates that those with access to ICT participate in agricultural activities more than their counterparts without ICT access by 29.46%.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of the study is that some of the variables such as insecurity, social protection/safety nets, that may have a significant influence on youth agricultural participation where not included in the model due to data constraint. As a recommendation for further studies, given data availability, such variables should be considered when examining youth-agricultural employment nexus.Practical implicationsSince ICT adoption has a significant impact on agricultural employment, this study proposes improved infrastructure facilities such as reliable power supply, lowering the cost of mobile and data subscriptions and better education facilities should be prioritised at all localities. This will enable the youth to embrace agriculture and help improve their socioeconomic welfare and livelihood.Originality/valueUsing Wave 4 of the LSMS-ISA, logit regression, propensity score matching and the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment, makes this study one of the very few to examine the impact of ICT adoption on agricultural employment among the youth in Nigeria. It implies that this study has provided empirical evidence and expanded the frontiers of knowledge on the extent to which ICT adoption influences youth agricultural employment in Nigeria.

Telecommunications regulation, mobile money innovations and financial inclusion

PurposeThis study aims to assess how corporate telecommunication (telecom) policies follow telecom sector regulation in mobile money innovation for financial inclusion in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachTelecom policies are understood in terms of mobile subscriptions, mobile connectivity coverage and mobile connectivity performance, whereas mobile money innovations represent mobile money accounts, the mobile used to send money and the mobile used to receive money. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions.FindingsTelecom sector regulation positively influences mobile money innovations. From net influences, mobile subscriptions and connectivity policies moderate telecom sector regulation to positively influence mobile money innovations, exclusively within the remit of mobile money accounts because the corresponding net influences on the mobile used to send money and the mobile used to receive money are negative. The interactive influences are consistently negative, and hence, thresholds for complementary policies are provided to maintain the positive influence of telecom sector regulation on mobile money innovations.Originality/valueThis study has complemented the extant literature by assessing how corporate telecommunication policies follow telecommunication sector regulation in mobile money innovations for financial inclusion.

Watching your call: Breaking VoLTE Privacy in LTE/5G Networks

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over NR (VoNR), are two similar technologies that have been widely deployed by operators to provide a better calling experience in LTE and 5G networks, respectively. The VoLTE/NR protocols rely on the security features of the underlying LTE/5G network to protect users' privacy such that nobody can monitor calls and learn details about call times, duration, and direction. In this paper, we introduce a new privacy attack which enables adversaries to analyse encrypted LTE/5G traffic and recover any VoLTE/NR call details. We achieve this by implementing a novel mobile-relay adversary which is able to remain undetected by using an improved physical layer parameter guessing procedure. This adversary facilitates the recovery of encrypted configuration messages exchanged between victim devices and the mobile network. We further propose an identity mapping method which enables our mobile-relay adversary to link a victim's network identifiers to the phone number efficiently, requiring a single VoLTE protocol message. We evaluate the real-world performance of our attacks using four modern commercial off-the-shelf phones and two representative, commercial network carriers. We collect over 60 hours of traffic between the phones and the mobile networks and execute 160 VoLTE calls, which we use to successfully identify patterns in the physical layer parameter allocation and in VoLTE traffic, respectively. Our real-world experiments show that our mobile-relay works as expected in all test cases, and the VoLTE activity logs recovered describe the actual communication with 100% accuracy. Finally, we show that we can link network identifiers such as International Mobile Subscriber Identities (IMSI), Subscriber Concealed Identifiers (SUCI) and/or Globally Unique Temporary Identifiers (GUTI) to phone numbers while remaining undetected by the victim.

DEVELOPMENT OF A MODIFIED METHOD OF NETWORK TRAFFIC FORMING

Based on the analysis of the statistical characteristics of heterogeneous network traffic of "Quadruple Play" mobile subscribers, it is shown that it cannot be represented by Poisson or Erlang distributions. It is shown that for such similar traffic, the rate of growth of the required buffer volume increases as the Hurst parameter increases. A method of adaptive traffic formation using the control of the length of intervals of the intensity of the arrival of data packets has been developed. Congestion management is carried out by changing the frequency of the marker generator (GM) on the basis of the results of forecasting the required bandwidth of the system and the required buffer size. The shaper adapts to changes in the length and instantaneous intensity of packet input in real-time.

The impact of digitalization on the banking sector: Evidence from fintech countries

Banking services are now branded and are provided in distinct ways. It has been proven that the development of new financial services and products substantially impacts bank performance. This paper investigates the effect of e-banking services on the performance of banks before the pandemic. The study looks at a sample of 24 nations, including leading fintech nations. Data from 2012 to 2019 was gathered from the World Development Indicators and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) databases. The findings show a significant positive correlation between cashless payments and banks' ROA. The performance of a bank is significantly impacted by mobile subscribers. In fact, customers are willing to use mobile transactions in place of traditional bank accounts. Banks' ability to generate revenue from assets (in the form of credits) is consequently restricted, which has an impact on their ability to earn a profit. The research suggests a range of policy implications and policy interconnections between digital financial services, banking stability, and efficiency. The banking sector has become more digitalized after the recent pandemic. To date, there is very little literature that has focused on the effect of digitalization on the banking sector before the Covid-19 crisis. The current study contributes to the literature by providing an overview of the relationship between the banking industry and digitalization before the latest pandemic for some leading fintech countries. This research will contribute to later comparisons between the different situations of the banking sector pre- and post-pandemic.

Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa.

Development of information and communication technology has been identified as a tool for fast and effective information gathering and dissemination, and as a means through which almost every social and economic sector (including the health sector) could achieve economic, operational, and service delivery efficiencies that can enable the realization of targeted outcomes. ICT can serve as a tool for achieving international agreements (including the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978), thereby accelerating the achievement of various global development targets. Consequently, based on a sample of 38 countries from 2000 to 2018, this study investigates the effect of ICT development on the health gap, and whether the effect varies by gender and sub-region in Africa. The dependent variable (health gap) was measured as the difference between the achieved life expectancy at birth of 60 years and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 targeted life expectancy at birth of 60 years. The main independent variables are ICT indicators (ICT index, mobile cellular subscriptions, and internet access), while the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the measure of economic growth, healthcare expenditure, urbanization, and labor market outcome, is employed as control variables. The effect was examined using Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE). The findings of the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors estimation technique supported by those of FGLS and PCSE suggest that ICT does act as an indispensable stimulator for Africa to significantly exceed the international health target of life expectancy at birth of 60 years. It can be concluded that African leaders need to take advantage and maximize the health-enhancing potential of the internet component of ICT through relevant policies that would improve internet coverage, connectivity, and access for individuals and health institutions.

Information and Communication Technologies and Agricultural Production: New Evidence from Africa

While information and communication technologies (ICT) have proven to be useful in boosting agricultural production and productivity, regardless of the geographical location, much of the discussion on ICT and their impact focus on the global north, with deficient literature on the global south. The limited account of the global south shows mixed conclusions on the impact of information and communication technologies on agricultural production, with most studies focusing on crop production, as a proxy for agricultural production, leaving out livestock production. Animated by this concern, this article explores the impact of ICTs on agricultural production (crop and livestock) in Africa using panel data from 32 African countries and the panel autoregressive distributed lag model as the estimation technique. We find that individuals using internet significantly increased crop production in the long run. Specifically, a percentage increase in internet patronage increases crop production by 0.071% but significantly decreases the livestock production index, both in the short and long run. Mobile phone subscriptions had a significant negative impact on crop production in the long run but had a significant positive impact on livestock production in the long run. Fixed phone subscriptions significantly increased crop production in the long run but significantly decreased livestock production index in the long run. The findings show bidirectional causality between crop production and internet patronage, livestock production and individuals using internet, crop production and mobile cellular subscription, crop production and net national income, and rural population and both crop and livestock production. We recommend that governments in Africa increase funding investment in digital technologies to foster increased agricultural production while addressing structural challenges that constrain increased access to digital agricultural technologies. It might be useful if governments in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) incentivize the telecommunication companies to extend digital coverage to rural areas through tax rebates and holidays to encourage rural inclusion in the digital space to bridge the digital divide.

Determinants of Customer Switching Behaviour in Mobile Telecommunication Industry in South-South Nigeria

The study examined the determinants of customers’ switching behaviour in mobile telecommunications industry in South-South Nigeria. The main objective of the study was to explore the factors influencing customers’ switching behaviour in the mobile telecommunications industry and in specific terms, determine whether price, reputation, service quality, promotional package and switching cost did have a significant and positive influence on customers’ switching behaviour. The unit of analysis comprised 400 mobile telecommunication subscribers drawn from six cities in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The study units were selected using a proportionate stratified sampling technique and the data obtained from the process were analysed with descriptive statistic using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 software. Conceptual hypothesized relationships involving the independent and dependent variables formulated from the research model were tested with multiple regression analysis technique. The findings of the study revealed that reputation, service quality, promotional package and switching cost had a strong and positive relationship with customers’ switching behaviour but price and involuntary switching seemed to have the least significant relationship. It showed that those factors were very important determinants of customers’ decision to switch from one mobile telecommunications provider to another except price and involuntary switching as earlier stated. The key recommendations from the study were that managers of mobile telecommunications companies should develop proper pricing strategies that were remarkably different in terms of moderate call rates and data charges to prevent customer switching. Secondly, plans could be put in place by management that would encourage the development of trust and confidence through the provision of timely quality services and ensure good network coverage. Finally, managers should ensure that promotional campaigns were aimed at building relationships. In conclusion, it is quite important that managers should have adequate knowledge of the determinants of customers’ switching behaviour established in the study so as to put in place preventive measures that will enhance customers’ retention of improved sales and profitability. The study made a significant contribution by identifying customers’ perceptions of marketing variables that could affect switching.

Information Communication Technology and Its Impact on the Economic Growth of Nigeria

The study examined the impact of information communication technology, using the internet usage and telephone subscription as a proxy on economic growth in Nigeria between 1996 and 2020. Auto Regressive Distribution lag (ARDL) method of estimation was used to achieve the objective of the study. Empirical findings established that, there exists a relationship between internet usage and telephone subscription on economic growth in Nigeria. Hence, the result shows that mobile telephone subscription has a positive and significant effect on economic growth both in short run and long run, while Internet Usage revealed a negative and insignificant relationship with the economic growth in Nigeria. Though it was expected that the result for Internet Usage should be positive and significant but it was otherwise; this could be as a result of numerous problems facing the Nigerian economy such as lack of power supply, high poverty lever and high ICT illiteracy rate. The key policy implication drawn from the result is that the underlined problems facing the economy need immediate and accurate intervention to experience the true dividend of internet access and its usage.

Impact of Mobile Received Signal Strength (RSS) on Roaming and Non-roaming Mobile Subscribers.

Mobile phones have transitioned from voice-centric devices to smart devices supporting functionalities like high-definition video and games, web browsers, radio reception, and video conferencing. Mobile phones are used in telemedicine, health monitoring applications, navigation tools, and gaming devices, among other applications. Given the above, Mobile broadband connectivity affects mobile access to the internet and voice communications. This paper assesses the impact of the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and broadband connectivity around Covenant University. LTE, GSM, and HSPA mobile signal measurement campaigns were conducted around Covenant University in Ota, Ogun state, Nigeria. To investigate the best optimized mobile network for mobile subscribers on roaming services and subscriber's high performance and data rates. After the experiment, exploratory data analysis was used to visualize the best mobile network; GSM proved as stable than LTE and HSPA.

Digital infrastructural development and inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The study assesses the effect of digital infrastructural development on inclusive growth in 44 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2020. The study adopts the Driscoll-Kraay strategy to address cross-sectional dependence and the Newey-West standard errors to address errors-related problems. The study adopted the four indicators of digital infrastructures and their component score to determine their effect on inclusive growth which ensures equitable distribution of resources in an economy. The findings of the study reveal that inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is enhanced by the number of individuals using the internet, the number of fixed broadband subscribers, fixed telephone and mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 adults. The findings further reveal that digital infrastructures enhance the level of inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan African economies irrespective of whether the countries belong to the lower-, middle- and upper-income groups. The study recommends policymakers augment their investments in digital infrastructure and human capital to raise the level of inclusive growth.

Service innovation practices and customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry.

The study sought to assess differences in innovation practices in the telecommunication industry, customer perception of service innovations, and how service innovation practices influence the loyalty of mobile subscribers. A quantitative research approach was adopted to study 250 samples from active subscribers of the leading mobile telecommunication companies in Ghana. Descriptive and regression analytical approaches were used to analyze the study's objectives. The result indicates service innovation practices significantly influence loyalty. Innovative service concepts, innovative service processes, and new technologies significantly influence customer loyalty with the latter having the strongest influence. The study contributes to the scanty literature on the mentioned subject within the Ghanaian context. Additionally, this study focused on the service sector. Despite the sector's contribution to the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), previous studies have largely focused on the manufacturing sector. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the management of MTN, Vodafone, and Airtel-Tigo in collaboration with R&D and Marketing departments must invest financial and cognitive resources to develop innovative technologies, processes, and services to address the service convenience, efficiency, and effectiveness needs of customers. The study further recommends that financial and cognitive investment should be based on market and consumer research, and customer interaction. This study recommends similar studies using qualitative research methods in other industries such as banking and insurance.

The role of education in modulating the effect of ICT on governance in Africa.

This study investigates the role of education in modulating the effect of ICT on governance in 53 African countries between 2002 and 2020. The Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity problem. Governance is computed as a composite index that encompasses the six indicators of the Worldwide Governance Indicators (Control of corruption, rule of law, political stability, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability). ICT is measured by the number of individuals using the internet, mobile cellular subscribers and fixed broadband subscription. The findings of the study reveal that the quality of governance in Africa is enhanced by growth in ICT. The findings further indicate that the interaction between ICT and education procure positive net effects on governance. In addition, we observed that ICT still enhances the quality of governance in African countries that have adopted the French civil law and the British common law system. The study suggests the design of policies for enhancing e-governance and ICT in African institutions, and are recommended to be used as part of the school curriculum for quality management.

ATSC 3.0, DVB-I, and TV 3.0 Services via 5G Broadcast—System Design and Reference Tools

5G broadcast brings the promise of an independent or complementary linear TV experience, which can reuse existing terrestrial broadcast infrastructure to serve high definition (HD) or 4K live content to mobile devices, possibly independent of a mobile subscription. To benefit fully from this new capability, the design of a service layer is essential, including service discovery procedures and delivery protocols over IP multicast. This article examines the set of the different standardized service layers brought by the 3GPP, Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), which could target different regions, ecosystems, or regulatory requirements. To support media service providers, a full ecosystem of tools is now emerging, including the Reference Tools from the 5G Media Action Group (5G-MAG) and the GPAC open-source solution. We will introduce the consolidated work from 3GPP and 5G-MAG to make this vision a reality, in terms of standardization and development of reference tools. We will detail how DVB-I services over 5G broadcast can now be experimented with commodity tools and commercial devices. We will also identify the potential synergies with ATSC 3.0 A/3311and the possibilities for Brazil’s TV 3.0 project,2for which Real-time Object delivery over Unidirectional Transport (ROUTE)/dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) is the transport layer of choice and 5G broadcast is a candidate for the physical layer.

How Catalytic Is Digital Technology in the Nexus between Migrants’ Remittance and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan African Countries?

Given the indisputable roles of remittance and financial development in countries’ economic performance, enhancing the nexus between the two variables has become pertinent. The remittance–financial development literature has surged, with a growing argument that making the relationship work is conditioned on mediating roles of certain economic indicators. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the transformative roles of digital technology, the assessment of its possible mediating role in the remittance–financial development nexus is lacking in the literature. Hence, using pooled data of 35 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries sourced from the World Bank’s Development Indicators, this study examined the mediating effect of digital technology in the relationship between remittance inflows and financial development. Using two indicators of ICT—fixed broadband and mobile cellular subscription—the results of the generalized method of moment analysis suggest that digital technology spurs remittance inflows to promote financial development in SSA. The results are consistent for both measures. These findings imply that remittance and digital technology are complementary in promoting financial development in the sub-region. Based on these outcomes, the study therefore advances the enactment of policies aimed at fostering diffusion of digital technology and achieving the sustainable development goal’s recommendation of lower transaction cost of remittances.

ICT Penetration and Insurance Sector Development: Evidence from the 10 New EU Member States

The insurance sector provides protection to individuals and businesses against many types of risks and also promotes economic growth, being an important source of long-term capital. Analyzing factors that facilitate insurance sector development is important for both individuals and the entire economy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between information and communication technologies (ICT) represented by mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people and individuals using the Internet (% of population) and insurance sector development represented by insurance company assets to GDP (%). Using data from 10 new member states of the European Union for the period 2000–2020, this study reveals a mutual interaction between ICT penetration indicators and insurance sector development. Furthermore, a regression analysis reveals that Internet penetration has a significant positive influence on insurance sector growth. Specifically, at the country level, the results indicate the existence of bidirectional causality between mobile cellular subscriptions and the insurance sector in Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia, and unidirectional causality between insurance and mobile cellular subscriptions in Estonia and Hungary.