Roaming Charges Research Articles

Digitalni samit Zapadnog Balkana - ka delotvornom upravljanju procesom digitalizacije u regionu

The digital revolution is leading to structural changes in the system of global relations and shaping a new and different environment in which diplomacy unfolds. Technological innovations have opened up new possibilities that point to one of the fundamental roles of diplomacy in the digital age: "the creation of networks, embracing a range of state and non-state actors focusing on the management of issues that demand resources over which no single participant possesses a monopoly" (Hocking 2006). The changed constellation of global relations promised to present an opportunity to initiate positive economic, political, and social changes in the world. Nevertheless, the digitalization process is characterized by unevenness because it is influenced by broader economic and socio-political factors. That explains why not all regions possess the potential for digital transformation. The global challenge of the digital divide is a reality in many parts of the world. The same applies in the Western Balkans. However, the Western Balkans are trying to reduce the digital gap through regional cooperation in digitalization. This multilateral process was initiated in 2017 through the Berlin process. This led to the establishment of a Digital Summit framework for consultations, negotiations, and deliberation on challenges and perspectives of digitalization and digital transformation. From 2018 to 2023, the Western Balkans Digital Summit was held six times in the capitals of the Western Balkan Six. Within this research, Digital Summit is thoroughly analyzed as a specific case of "multistakeholder summitry" (West 2006) reflecting the crucial role of diplomacy as an activity of the creation of networks that Hocking pointed out. The research question is whether the Western Balkans Digital Summit, as a new dimension of regional cooperation, contributed to a more effective digitization process of regional governance. The empirical research showed positive results. Although the digital gap is still a reality, not only in the Western Balkans but also in all parts of the world, it is smaller compared to the period before the start of the Digital Summit. This is shown by the abolition of roaming charges in the region and the initiation of price reductions in comparison with equivalent services in the European Union. The process of digitalization is accelerated, not only as a result of the Digital Summit process but also a combination of various circumstances. Nevertheless, the regional approach of the multistakeholder summit is a significant contribution to global digitalization governance. The Western Balkans Digital Summit contributed to more effective regional digitalization governance. Consequently, it represents an example of good practice of regional cooperation in global issues, as well as one that preserves continuity and highlights the importance of digital transformation, including each region into global flows.

Roaming Charges: Rules We Like

Journal Article Roaming Charges: Rules We Like Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 33, Issue 4, November 2022, Pages 1209–1212, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chac069 Published: 25 February 2023

Roaming Charges: Post-Covid Travel

Journal Article Roaming Charges: Post-Covid Travel Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 33, Issue 3, August 2022, Pages 961–964, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chac056 Published: 05 December 2022

Roaming Charges: Places with a Soul – Pining for Re-entry

Roaming Charges: Places with a Soul – Pining for Re-entry Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 32, Issue 3, August 2021, Pages 910–918, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chab065 Published: 24 August 2021

Roaming Charges: COVID Autumn

Roaming Charges: COVID Autumn Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 31, Issue 4, November 2020, Pages 1429–1432, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chab010 Published: 27 April 2021

Roaming Charges: Visible Absences

Journal Article Roaming Charges: Visible Absences Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 31, Issue 3, August 2020, Pages 1051–1054, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaa077 Published: 05 February 2021

Roaming Charges: Death Wall

Journal Article Roaming Charges: Death Wall Get access European Journal of International Law, Volume 31, Issue 1, February 2020, Pages 285–288, https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaa049 Published: 07 August 2020

Viviane Reding on her action in the field of the information society and media (2004-2010) Interview by Elena Danescu

The following pages are taken from a long interview (more than eight hours of footage in total) that Viviane Reding granted us in 2015 in connection with the “Pierre Werner and Europe” research project. Drawing on more than 40 years’ experience in politics, Viviane Reding spoke about her career, the role of Luxembourg and Luxembourgers in the European integration process, and various key events in which she played a part. In these extracts, she discusses her role as a member of the first and second Barroso Commissions (2004-2009 and 2010-2014) and her efforts to help build an information and knowledge society in Europe, one that serves citizens and protects their rights and fundamental freedoms. Her achievements in this respect include capping mobile phone roaming charges (they were subsequently abolished in 2017), advocating for the introduction of a single emergency number (112) in all EU countries, launching the Europeana digital library, and spearheading a programme to use technological innovation for climate and energy solutions. She also describes the process of developing a Digital Agenda for Europe to improve the continent’s digital competitiveness compared with the United States, China and Japan – a complex and challenging task given the context of globalisation and the divergent interests of the various stakeholders (research, industry, consumers, etc.). Finally, she mentions the reform of personal data protection that she initiated (leading to the GDPR, adopted in April 2016).

Complex Pricing and Consumer-Side Attention

This paper analyzes a market in which two horizontally differentiated firms compete by setting menus of two-part tariffs, and in which some consumers are not informed about the linear per-unit price component. We consider two regulatory interventions that limit firms’ ability to price discriminate: (i) diminishing the range of contracts via a reduction in the number of two-part tariffs offered (which prohibits inter-group price discrimination), and (ii) a reduction in tariff complexity via the abolishment of linear fees (which prohibits inter- and intra-group price discrimination). We characterize the effects of these interventions on firm profits and (informed and uninformed) consumer welfare, and identify conditions for the optimal policy. Our results provide insights for the evaluation of recent policy interventions (e.g., the regulation of roaming charges in the EU market).

A review of the challenges facing EU copyright

The fact that habits on how to acquire goods, make transactions or even how to keep up with friends have changed so drastically over the past few years, is mainly due to one innovation alone: the Internet. In this regard, perhaps, the most affected area is the distribution of digital content, which has been created only because of the Internet, as it cements the infrastructure needed in order to carry out such distribution. If one considers books, music, movies, magazines and software, it is easy to see how old distribution models are disappearing over time and paving the way to new businesses, which represent a new take on how these industries used to operate. Part I of this book provides a brief take on the aims thereof, which circle around assessing if the current legislation is sufficient to provide a legal framework for the proposed Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy, envisioned by the European Commission. Furthermore, it also sees how the first endeavours adopted by the Commission have been reflecting the change sought, including the recently approved Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (DSM Directive), as well as similar efforts on internal market and communications (such as the agreement on the end of roaming charges).

"Mobile Phone Bills Will Soar": No-Deal Brexit Fear-Checker

This briefing on roaming charges argues that this problem is hugely exaggerated. But it also sets out two options for the Government to prevent consumers facing higher phone bills in a no-deal scenario. Solutions include replicating the existing arrangements by retaining restrictions on retail roaming charges in UK law unilaterally. This could be overseen by Ofcom. Alternatively, and preferably, they could let market forces do their job. There is now a much weaker case for state intervention in capping mobile phone tariffs. Consumers have alternative options with increased access to wi-fi and they can compare prices of different providers more easily putting those who introduce retail roaming charges at a competitive disadvantage. Given these developments, roaming charges have tumbled worldwide.

The governance of Internet and game theory

The professional milieu of telecommunications is livened up by controversies lasting decades. The controversy about access charges (or termination rates, the price paid by an operator to another when the subscriber’s call ends on its network) is ending, while the controversy about Net neutrality is starting. The article focuses on a “fragment”: the regulator’s action. Game theory is useful to answer two questions: (1) why does the regulator decide the decrease and cancellation of access charges (justification)? (2) How does he do it (tactical feasibility)? When the access charges decrease and are cancelled the retail prices decrease and the consumers’ surplus increases. And concerning the tactical feasibility, the regulator can let untouched the profits when he decides some decrease of the access charges (direct effect), then the retail prices decrease when there is a new Nash equilibrium (strategic effect). The operators cannot protest, neither during the first stage (the profits are untouched) neither during the second stage (it would be to admit that access charges are useful to have higher profits thanks to high retail prices, which is detrimental to consumers).One brings some explanation of the move towards access charges lowered or cancelled. Examples are: (1) the peering in the governance of Internet and (2) what is called the Eurotariff (for instance, roaming charges for users of mobile phones in Europe have been cancelled).

Cloudlet Vision: Examined Cloudlets Performance while end-users Use Multimedia Contents

Objective: Mobile devices have been found to perform high-performance processing tasks, as smart phones are increasingly becoming popular accompanied by development of mobile applications. Battery life, memory, weight, and heat dissipation limit the computational resources of the device. Cloud computing can be one of the best solutions to overcome mobile devices limitations. However, some of the problems that can be experienced in cloud computing include costly roaming charges and long-latency of cellular radio access. The purpose of this research paper is to develop an approach, which uses coordination between cloudlets, to not only enhance the performance of cloud access, but also bring new experience among mobile device users. Methods: A research review methodology was adopted to undertake analysis of the existing experimental studies on cloudlet computing to understand their proposed models, protocols, and theoretical framework for enhancing access and security of data from remote cloud using mobile devices, where cloudlets serve as intermediary. Location-Aware Service Deployment (LASD) algorithm was proposed to enhance cloudlet coordination through reduction of latency. Findings: The findings of existing experimental studies reveal several conclusive observations. There are benefits provided by the use of cloudlets over the remote cloud. They include faster processing of an application, faster data transfer as well as reducing the use of mobile resources. In the study, we have examined the data latency in the process of connections and data transfer between cloudlets including the distance cloud servers with and without coordination, using multimedia files. Application: Coordinated cloudlets will help clients to have their multimedia files to be transferred faster within the environment of cloud-computing. Keywords: Cloud Computing, Cloudlet, Data, Multimedia

Can cloudlet coordination support cloud computing infrastructure?

The popularity of mobile applications on smartphones requires mobile devices to perform high-performing processing tasks. The computational resources of these devices are limited due to memory, battery life, heat, and weight dissipation. To overcome the limitations of mobile devices, cloud computing is considered the best solution. The major issues faced by cloud computing are expensive roaming charges and growing demand for radio access. However, some major benefits associated with cloud computing are fast application processing, fast transfer of data, and substantial reduction in the use of mobile resources. This study evaluated the association between the distance of cloud servers and cloudlets with and without coordination and data latency. Fast communication in the cloudlet environment is facilitated by coordinated cloudlets, which have a positive influence on the infrastructure of cloud computing. The coordinated cloudlets can be efficiently accessed in different areas, such as vehicular networks, vehicular fog computing, and fog computing.

Slaying Dragons with Love

Slaying Dragons with Love Sparrow (bio) Blue Lyre Jeffrey Cyphers Wright Dos Madres Press www.dosmadres.com 102 Pages; Print, $17.00 Blue Lyre is Jeffrey Cyphers Wright's fifteenth collection of poetry. Almost every poem in the book has 14 lines. These are contemporary sonnets, with fewer syllables than the traditional models, fitting today's Snapchat-influenced syntax. The poems reference contemporary life: "Blood squeezed from a Swatch," "leggo your ego," "Quack in the spamiverse." Certain phrases almost resemble graffiti or movie taglines: "Open season on nature," "Tune my fork," "Happy endings are my destination." Younger New York School poets joke that they are in the seventh generation or ninth generation of this semi-fictitious movement. I would place Wright solidly in the sixth generation. He studied with Ted Berrigan and indeed wrote poems with him (published in A Certain Slant of Sunlight [1988], Ted's posthumous book). Berrigan was second generation New York School: a direct disciple of the sainted Frank O'Hara. "Slay stray dragons with staggering love" is the last line of a poem beginning with the Latin epigraph Fluctuat nec mergitur. "She is tossed by the waves but does not sink" is the literal meaning (though Wright himself does not translate it). This phrase has been the motto of Paris since at least 1358. With its double rhyme, "slay" and "stray," "staggering" and "dragon," the line is effortlessly dancerly. There's also at least one pun. "Staggering" could refer to a knight who's been badly wounded by a giant fire-breathing reptile, haltingly reeling—or to a love that's staggeringly large. But what exactly does the line mean? Can one slay a dragon with love itself? Or should one, while killing a dragon, insert the sword lovingly between its massive ribs? And what is a stray dragon? Is it like a stray cat? Can love only defeat stray dragons and not domesticated ones? These poems are riddles and riddles within riddles. An earlier line in the poem—"We are all 'bull' fighters now"—suggests that our dragons are the daily bullshit of modern humiliation. The title of the poem is also the last two words, "Staggering Love." We stagger forward, attempting to survive as lovingly as possible. In a sense, Blue Lyre is a political work. One of the epigraphs, by contemporary artist Ted Lawson, makes this explicit: "Whimsical resistance may be more effective than forms of organized protest…" "Staggering Love" begins: "How cheap blood is, running in the streets." There are moments of rock-bottom outrage beneath the whimsy. In the early 1990s, Wright invented "New Romanticism," a poetic movement that is at once joyous, communal, erotic and spontaneous. Blue Lyre is, in a sense, the culmination of New Romanticism. These poems contain a great deal of smooch-talk: Where my labia and libido meet,night unfolds its tent. Many are addressed to an unspecified "you," sometimes elaborated as "my little problem child," "my boutonnière," "my wench," "beautiful head banger," or "my stand-alone action figure." But "you" in a poem always includes the reader. And since anyone can open a book, the love in a poem includes all humanity. Promiscuity is a democratic impulse. "Here's to the Anti-genius/Museum," Wright writes, in "Full of Bad Ideas." We don't need geniuses anymore, he suggests. We need anti-geniuses, to dismantle the work of the self-serving "Great Men" who wrecked our world—the same way Wright's sonnets dismantle the heroic machinery of Western verse. Wright manipulates rhymes like a three-card monte dealer hustling a crowd on 14th Street. Just when you expect a rhyme to appear, it doesn't, and when you're sure it won't, it does: But now I'm stuck here on a tuffet,impervious to languor's detours,teasing out time's knotsand scoring hours. "Roaming Charges" New York City is a character in these poems, both literally and literarily—a place where one may "go out at night and marry trouble"—to quote the first line of "Roaming Charges." The poetry venue/ bar KGB appears twice, and indeed, the last time I went there I ran...

Policy leadership in the European Commission: the regulation of EU mobile roaming charges

Political leadership in the European Commission tends to be associated with high politics and the intervention therein of the Commission President. This contribution takes a different approach by viewing policy leadership by the Commission as a form of political leadership. When the Commission finds it difficult to perform a broader political agenda-setting role, it may still be able to set and deliver new policy initiatives. The contribution considers the conditions under which successful policy leadership occurs. It identifies two types of condition – political agency and policy capacity – and argues that both, together, are important in explaining successful policy leadership. Evidence is drawn from the case of European mobile roaming.

Architecture for Mobile Cloud Computing via Middle-Ware Technologies

Mobile devices are playing a vital role in information processing systems in day to day life. Current trend suggests that smart phones are going to be the first-most computing devices which many people will carry with them for maximum time everywhere. However, smart phones are still lacking behind the essential resources. This demands the need for Mobile Cloud Computing, where the key elements of data storage and data processing are carried outside the mobile devices. So this provides flexibility to mobile users as, the application and the data stored remotely can be accessed on-the-fly with high speed networks. Variation among the mobile network on basis of elements such as, bandwidth, unstable network and its uncertain availability are barriers for Quality Of Services in the performance. Thus the solution is to connect the mobile devices heterogeneously where they work collaboratively as resource providers. Our mechanism suggest for “Mobile to Hub to Cloud” model which can tackles the network disparity problem. A scenario gives the perfect example for the need of such model, mobile users in areas with infrastructure where the costs of accessing the network is too high, such as traveler who doesn’t wished to pay high roaming charges. Thus the suggested model can evaluate the following options: storing data in mobile hubs and improving the message delivery performance. So as in our example, traveler now can push the data onto the mobile buffers or hubs which in turn will send it to the cloud server.

Achieving a Roaming Free Europe

European roaming rates are not set by market forces because when a competitive market did not evolve in Europe, European legislators stepped in to set rates by legislative fiat. This paper argues that legislators’ tendency to set rates cautiously led to high wholesale prices that undermined smaller operators’ ability to put roaming-free offers into the market. Operators with larger footprints are less constrained by wholesale pricing since more roaming traffic is kept on-net. In this context, the outright abolition of retail roaming charges without wholesale backstops bestows a competitive advantage on larger operators. The paper notes the experience of the US where roaming persists for all operators but retail customers can avoid roaming charges subject to significant cut off limits. The effective wholesale roaming rate in the US is estimated at just above 1 eurocent per minute for voice while rates are observable for national roaming in Europe of 1 eurocent for voice, and 0.2 eurocent for data and 0.2 eurocent for SMS events. It is proposed that such rates would be appropriate for wholesale roaming in Europe and that these rates would facilitate pan-EU retail offers such as those observable in the US. Unlike the US, European operators charge each other termination rates to carry calls from other networks. This creates another barrier to pan-EU retail offers and creates tensions (and transfers) from low cost termination markets to high cost termination markets. This inconsistency of approach must be addressed if the elimination of intra-EU roaming is to be possible. It is suggested that low but consistent termination rates would be required to go with the low wholesale roaming rates and that these rates would need the speed and consistency of application delivered through a Regulation. The extension of retail caps to international calls and SMS is unwarranted and may have adverse effects on network valuation. Such a major policy initiative would benefit from a public consultation.

International Roaming Regulation: Roaming into a (Dis-)Connected Continent?

This article outlines the legislative proposals of the European Commission and the European Parliament for an abolition of international roaming charges. Considering the current European legislative framework and the effectiveness of the proposed amendments, we conclude that neither of the proposals ensures a coherent re-organisation of international roaming.

An Empirical Model on Customers' Perception in the Selection of Indian Prepaid Mobile Services

India, a leading country in the telecommunication sector, has shown remarkable growth in prepaid mobile subscriptions through rigorous rural penetration. At the same time, the rate of monthly customer attrition is very high when compared with other countries across the globe. Customer churn is very aggressive, particularly in the prepaid segment, when compared with the postpaid segment. Hence, it is decidedly imperative for the mobile operators to comprehend the exact preferences of the customers to select the mobile operators based on prepaid mobile services attributes. Thus, the purpose of the present paper was to examine the reasons for the customers to select specific service providers and to develop a business model based on the operational strategies for the prepaid mobile segment. Descriptive research method was adopted for the present study, and by using a structured questionnaire, the survey method was undertaken. A total of1102 sample respondents from 10 cities across Tamil Nadu participated in the study (using purposive sampling method). The factors related to technology based customer care services, accessibility, roaming charges, network coverage, and call charges were found to be acting as drivers for the customers to select a specific service provider. Based on this analysis, an empirical business model was designed by integrating the respective marketing elements and operational key areas to improve the business portfolio of the mobile service providers. Finally, operational strategies were recommended based on the current market scenario.