Telephone Company Research Articles

"Contagion by Telephone": Print Media and Knowledge about Infectious Diseases in Britain, 1880s-1914.

Communication technologies have long generated anxieties about physical and mental well-being. From the 1880s until World War I, concerns about "infection by telephone" in the British press prompted medical authorities and the National Telephone Company to investigate whether using the telephone, especially in public places, increased the possibility of contracting infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and diphtheria. This article reconstructs for the first time these transnational debates and the associated medical experiments. In contrast to previous scholarship, which has conceptualized health concerns associated with the telephone primarily within the framework of a nervous modernity, this article argues that the anxieties about "infectious telephones" also reflected the complex negotiations surrounding the emergence of new telecommunication networks and medical theories. It demonstrates that state and commercial actors, medical knowledge, and print media all shaped notions of public health risks and how to contain them.

Grupos de comunicación en España: madurez y profundas transformaciones en un final de ciclo

Los grupos de comunicación españoles han sufrido importantes transformaciones en los últimos cuarenta años. Las principales razones obedecen, sobre todo, a los fallidos intentos de integración vertical desarrollados en la década de los noventa, el escaso expertise en la industria televisiva y audiovisual, así como el elevado endeudamiento bancario. Una situación que se vio, además, agravada por la grave crisis económica sufrida en España entre 2007 y 2016, y, como es natural, por la adaptación al nuevo marco digital. En cualquier caso, parece claro que, al igual que está sucediendo en otros países desarrollados, estos grupos se encuentran en un momento de “madurez”, que puede llegar a comportar importantes transformaciones en el panorama mediático español. Este análisis apunta, a modo de prospectiva, la imposibilidad de que los tradicionales grupos de comunicación puedan seguir manteniendo en el futuro el mismo statu quo de estas últimas décadas. Para ello, desarrolla el análisis bajo un prisma diacrónico y plantea una visión de futuro que, probablemente, se manifieste en dos hechos relevantes: la casi totalidad de los viejos grupos anclados en la prensa tenderán a desaparecer, fragmentarse o integrarse en nuevas plataformas de medios; y el resto de grupos, cuyos “oficios de base” no provienen del mundo periodístico, se enfrentarán a una fuerte disputa por los contenidos, y competirán también con nuevos players, como las empresas de telefonía, las grandes empresas de internet y las plataformas de video on demand (VOD).

The Right to Privacy and Data Protection in the Information Age

The article considers the legality of mass surveillance and protection of personal data in the context of the international human rights law and the right to respect for private life. Special attention is paid to the protection of data on the Internet, where the personal data of billions of people are stored. The author emphasizes that mass surveillance and technology that allows the storage and processing of the data of millions of people pose a serious threat to the right to privacy guaranteed by Article 8 of the ECHR of 1950. Few companies comply with the human rights principles in their operations by providing user data in response to requests from public services. In this regard, States must prove that any interference with the personal integrity of an individual is necessary and proportionate to address a particular security threat. Mandatory data storage, where telephone companies and Internet service providers are required to store metadata about their users’ communications for subsequent access by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies, is neither necessary nor proportionate. The author analyses the legislation of some countries in the field of personal data protection, as well as examples from practice. Practice in many States is evidence of the lack of adequate national legislation and enforcement, weak procedural safeguards and ineffective oversight, which contributes to widespread impunity for arbitrary or unlawful interference with the right to privacy. In conclusion, we propose a number of measures aimed at improving the level of personal data protection in accordance with the international standards. In order to provide guarantees and a minimum level of adequate data protection in the face of new challenges to human rights in an ever-changing digital environment, the author proposes to solve a number of pressing issues. Firstly, States should not have the right to ask companies for and have absolute access to user data without a court order. Secondly, the process of sending a request and receiving data from a telecommunications company should be regulated in detail and transparent. The availability of specialized judges with technical expertise shall be valuable

Who is allowed to read and write?

Who is allowed to read and write?

Securely solving privacy preserving minimum spanning tree algorithms in semi-honest model

Yao introduced secure 2PC for the so-called millionaire's problem. It is about two millionaires Alice and Bob, interested to determine who is wealthier without revealing their values. Goldreich generalised the secure 2PC and formalised the MPC. Suppose two telephone companies wish to merge to provide better services to end users. Each company has a cost function for connecting any pair of houses. They want to connect every house with minimum cost in merged company. Before merging both companies want to know whether merging will benefit them or not without revealing cost function. Based on the MPC paradigm, we propose new algorithms for privacy-preserving computation of MST. We also investigate how to solve the classical MST problem with the help of ABB operations. We propose two more algorithms for solving MST in semi-honest model with secure ABB in the secretly shared data environment. Our protocols offer perfect security against semi-honest adversaries.

Securely solving privacy preserving minimum spanning tree algorithms in semi-honest model

Yao introduced secure 2PC for the so-called millionaire's problem. It is about two millionaires Alice and Bob, interested to determine who is wealthier without revealing their values. Goldreich generalised the secure 2PC and formalised the MPC. Suppose two telephone companies wish to merge to provide better services to end users. Each company has a cost function for connecting any pair of houses. They want to connect every house with minimum cost in merged company. Before merging both companies want to know whether merging will benefit them or not without revealing cost function. Based on the MPC paradigm, we propose new algorithms for privacy-preserving computation of MST. We also investigate how to solve the classical MST problem with the help of ABB operations. We propose two more algorithms for solving MST in semi-honest model with secure ABB in the secretly shared data environment. Our protocols offer perfect security against semi-honest adversaries.

Under the Standard: MGM, AT&T, and the Academy's Regulation of Power

In the 1930s, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences implemented a technical standard—known as Academy Mono, or the Academy Curve—that dramatically impaired the sound quality of motion pictures. This article accounts for why the major studios agreed to this restrictive standard. I argue that they adopted Academy Mono to curtail the power that the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) wielded over exhibitors and to help studios consolidate their financial control over the industry. The history of Academy Mono illustrates how technical standards impeded competition and how such consequences remained invisible to the majority of Hollywood.

Strategies and developments of Philippine telecommunications industry: revisiting the struggle, liberalisation and innovations

The telecommunications industry plays a vital role in determining the competitiveness of a country in a global economy. Access to advanced communication technologies at reasonable prices is essential to the country's growth and economic development. However, in the Philippines, the government permitted the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), a privately-owned company to dominate the market for sixty-five years. PLDT influences the political and regulatory process of the country which gives them the power to bring about changes in regulations that further enhance the profits it earns. This paper critically examines the historical perspective, the country's industrial policies, the establishment of regulatory authorities, and their consequences in the development of the country's infrastructure. If the goal of the government is to promote competition in the telecom market, they must create competition in the telecommunications industry in order to encourage efficiency and optimal allocation of resources.

Method of evaluation of the multidimensional capacity of the sigma level of the service dimensions in a call center of a telephone company

Method of evaluation of the multidimensional capacity of the sigma level of the service dimensions in a call center of a telephone company

Prognoza demograficzna dla Warszawy = A demographic forecast for Warsaw

This article offers assumptions and results relating to six projection variants of demographic forecasting (scenario analysis of population change) elaborated for Warsaw City Hall (Śleszyński et al., 2019). The analysis was based on the population size estimated by reference to telemetry calculations obtained from the Orange Polska telephone company. It revealed that the so-called ‘night population’ size is larger by 213,000 than the registered population size of the Polish capital. Estimates were made for the 18 districts of Warsaw in one-year intervals for the 2018 2050 period, according to six variant scenarios (continuation, suburbanisation, concentration, polarisation, ‘low’ immigration and ‘high’ immigration). The scenarios were predominately differentiated in terms of internal and international migration levels, and was inter alia conditioned by the socio-economic development model for Poland and the spatial policy pursued in the Warsaw Metropolitan Area. Based on the respective variant, the population estimates for the city as a whole in 2030 range from 1,980,000 to 2,132,000, as compared with 1,785 2,249,000 in 2050. The most important conclusion, which implies practical solutions is related to the finding that till 2050 there is no basis to anticipate a stronger population growth in Warsaw. This reflects both the exhaustion of traditional source regions for migrants and the fertility rates in the city, which remain low in real terms, even if they are relatively high by the standards of Polish cities in general. Only a distinct intensification of immigration and a parallel inflow of migrants from other regions of Poland and abroad, would lead to a population growth of the city. The most probable variant is that of continuation, as it reflects the inertia among the key factors. This would at first denote an increase in population to 2,044,000 in 2028, followed by a slow decline (in 2040 – 2,005,000, in 2050 – 1,929,000). The ageing of the population and a marked increase in post-working age population are both inevitable. By 2050, the population in this category will most probably account for more than 25% of the total for Warsaw (as compared with 18 per cent currently). It is predicted that the downtown districts (especially Śródmieście and Praga Północ) will witness dec¬lines in the number of inhabitants, even as the so-called ‘developing’ parts of the city (like Białołęka, Wilanów or Ursus) continue to increase, while other external districts like Ursynów will move over to population stagnation. The main factor determining the condition and structure of Warsaw’s population will thus be migration, predominately including internal and international immigration. In the future, the most important factor determining mobility will be the absolute decrease in migration resources in the capital’s main basin. At the same time, the expected supply gap on the labour market (2 7 million people nationally by 2050) will result in competition for employees between urban centres at a much greater level than at present. In the case of Warsaw this may result in an intensification of three complementary processes, i.e. increased internal drainage, foreign immigration and commuting to work. There are several reasons why stagnation or population decline will pose no threat to Warsaw. Firstly, the capital ‘operates’ as a functional area, together with its suburban zone, for which at least weak population growth should be expected till 2050. Secondly, the future development of the capital city depends less on its population size, and more on the quality of human capital, including the size of the so-called ‘creative class’. The typical demographic burden parameters associated with the ratio of people of non-productive to productive age are also less important than the latter factor. While population loss in a city as large as Warsaw does not constitute a social problem, the occurrence and increase of social inequalities is a major one.

Strategies and developments of Philippine telecommunications industry: revisiting the struggle, liberalisation and innovations

The telecommunications industry plays a vital role in determining the competitiveness of a country in a global economy. Access to advanced communication technologies at reasonable prices is essential to the country's growth and economic development. However, in the Philippines, the government permitted the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), a privately-owned company to dominate the market for sixty-five years. PLDT influences the political and regulatory process of the country which gives them the power to bring about changes in regulations that further enhance the profits it earns. This paper critically examines the historical perspective, the country's industrial policies, the establishment of regulatory authorities, and their consequences in the development of the country's infrastructure. If the goal of the government is to promote competition in the telecom market, they must create competition in the telecommunications industry in order to encourage efficiency and optimal allocation of resources.

Identifying Potential Churners Through Predictive Analysis: Evaluation using Pro-Active-Attrition Management Logistic Regression

Telecom industries are sensitive to customer churn prediction management system, which is popularly known as predictive analytics. Digital network and linked IT have severs that need customer churn prediction models. It is a great challenge for them to deal with a massive amount of data generated across fields. This research is a comprehensive study to develop a 'customer churn prediction model' by identifying potential churners using predictive analytics, concerning critical evaluation through pro-active-attrition management logistic regression. Such model and research work can help to identify customers, that are more likely to churn, save from fraudulent activities, inactive, or non-payment subscribers. The dataset is a scaled-down version of the full database generously donated by an anonymous wireless telephone company. There are 71,047 customers in the database and 75 potential predictors (total 78 variables) that combine the calibration and validation. Results show that the reason behind the customer churn is customer attrition.

The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Customer Loyalty in Mobile Telephone Companies

Purpose: The present study aims at developing and empirically testing a research model that presents the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on corporate image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, demonstrating the direct and indirect effects among these structures. Design/Methodology/Approach: The examination of the proposed research model was carried out using a structured questionnaire completed by 358 mobile users in the city of Kavala. The validity and the reliability of the questionnaire were examined, while for the data analysis the Structural Equation Modeling Technique was used with LISREL 8.80. Findings: The findings of this study indicate that Corporate Social Responsibility have not a significant direct effect on customer loyalty, while corporate image and customer satisfaction have a significant positive effect on customer loyalty. Moreover, the findings provide practical new insights in understanding how a mobile company’s CSR policy could be developed and implemented to help enhance customer loyalty through the mediating effects of customer satisfaction. Practical Implications: The companies would like to understand the implications of its CSR policy implementation, especially in enhancing its corporate image and customer satisfaction in terms of reputation and impression. Originality/Value: This study is a pioneer research in addressing the mediating role played by customer satisfaction for strengthening the relationship between CSR and customer loyalty in mobile phone companies.

Evaluación de la velocidad de transferencia de datos entre diferentes compañías telefónicas

En este artículo se muestra la aplicación de un diseño cuadrado latino para evaluar si existe diferencia significativa en la velocidad de transferencia de datos entre las diferentes compañías telefónicas de Panamá. El diseño propuesto define dos factores de bloque que se controlan en el experimento, estos factores son: tipo de celular y la hora del día. Para asegurar la independencia de los datos se aleatorizaron los tratamientos dentro de los bloques. La variable dependiente, velocidad de transferencia de datos, fue medida a través de una aplicación denominada “SpeedTest”. Mediante análisis de varianza se encontró que la hipótesis inicial fue rechazada al 5% de significancia, por lo que existen suficientes evidencias como para concluir que hay diferencia en la velocidad de transferencia de datos entre las empresas telefónicas en Panamá

Technologies of Corporate Social Responsibility in Accounting and Statistics

This article describes the insights of the future evolution of financial accounting in the context of the digital economy, and the strategy for introducing corporate social responsibility into financial accounting and reports. The requirement for introducing corporate social responsibility is explained primarily by the companies’ growing awareness of their obligations to society. Companies in the modern world tend to do business with due account of the current social tasks and issues. Those businesses that do consider the implications of their operations make corporate social responsibility their strategic priority. The pioneers in corporate social responsibility, who were the first to speak openly on the topic, were Mr. G. Swope, President of General Electric, and Mr. W. Gifford, President of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. The idea of the social responsibility of business has spread all over the world and was adopted by many companies, resulting in the emergence of the concept of corporate social responsibility. Today, business is a valid corporate citizen exercising its influence on the social, economic and political environment. As such, it may not allow itself to neglect the social background of its activities since it may result in the deterioration of its public image and the way it is perceived by its consumers and investors.

Personal RF-EMF exposure from mobile phone base stations during temporary events

BackgroundIn recent years, radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) exposure has increased owing to new communication technologies. Simultaneously, increased exposure to RF-EMF has led to society's growing concern about the possible effects they may have on human health. Many studies have described personal RF-EMF exposure by using personal exposimeters to know a population's daily exposure to mobile phone base stations and to other sources whose installations tend to be permanent. Nonetheless during special events like concerts or fairs, where many people gather, permanent installations might not suffice to cover demand. So telephone companies install temporary stations for these events, and modify the exposure pattern of these areas or populations. ObjectiveTo study if installing temporary antennae for large events, and high concentrations of mobile phones, modify the exposure pattern compared to usual situations. MethodsPersonal RF-EMF exposure from mobile phones (uplink) and mobile phone base stations (downlink) installed at the 2017 Albacete Fair (Spain) was recorded. Between 7 and 17 September, more than 2,500,000 people visited this Fair. Measurements were taken by two Satimo EME SPY 140 personal exposimeters, placed one each side of a research team member's waist. These exposimeters were programmed to take measurements every 4 s at different time of day; morning, afternoon and night; and in several places, around the Fair Enclosure (zones Ejidos and Paseo) and inside the enclosure (Interior). These measurements were repeated on a weekday, at the weekend and the day after the Fair ended after temporary base stations had been removed. They were also taken for 1 h in all three zones, for each time of day; that is, 9 h were recorded for each study day. ResultsThe mean RF-EMF recorded exposure from base stations (downlink-DL) on the days the Fair opened (morning, afternoon and night) for the three studied zones was 791.8 μW/m2, while the exposure produced by mobile phones (uplink-UL) was 59.0 μW/m2. These values were 391.2 μW/m2 (DL) and 10.3 μW/m2 (UL) a few days after the event ended.In study zones Ejidos and Paseo, both outside, the highest mean exposure was recorded at the weekend as 1494.1 and 848.1 μW/m2 respectively. For the Interior zone, the mean value recorded during the Fair was 354.8 μW/m2. These values contrast with those recorded in the three zones after the event ended: 556.37 (Ejidos), 144.1 (Paseo); 473.21 μW/m2 (Interior).The fact that the mean exposure recorded at Interior was slightly higher after the Fair could be due to signal shielding by so many people. The reduction in exposure in Paseo after the Fair was outstanding, probably due to the antennae being placed on low towers. Major differences were also found in the RF-EMF exposure from UL. In this case, the weekend values taken during the Fair were between 28.2 μW/m2 at Interior (weekday) and 98.1 μW/m2 at Ejidos (weekend), which dropped to 5.5 at Paseo after the Fair, to 11.7 μW/m2 at Interior and to 13.6 μW/m2 at Ejidos. ConclusionsInstalling mobile phone base stations, and a dense public using mobile phones, imply a significant increase in personal RF-EMF exposure compared to that recorded during normal periods in the same area. However, the recorded measurements were below legally established limits.

Technological change, opening and internationalization of Spanish telecommunications. The transition to the third generation of mobile telephony

This article explores from a multidisciplinary and transnational historical approach the impact of technological change on the structure of the telephone sector, the fruit of advances in microelectronics and information technology. This problem has been studied in Spain basically by regulatory specialists, on the one hand, and technologists, on the other. We lack a more transversal analysis that puts into play the various elements that intervene. This article is intended to cover this gap, based on unpublished primary sources –primarily from Telefónica– as well as in other documents of diverse origin. Specifically, it focuses on the role played by Spain and the historic telephone company (Telefónica) in the transition to the third generation of mobile telephony (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, UMTS) and gives prominence to the national state, to the supranational bodies –EU and International Telecommunication Union(ITU) and companies.

The Electrical Engineer Who Clarified Glass [Scanning our Past

Charles Kuen Kao Life Fellow of the IEEE and Nobel Laureate, died from Alzheimer's disease on September 23, 2018 in CA, USA, after a rich life of work and family in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Hong Kong. The Nobel committee in physics honored him in 2009 “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.” He spent his engineering career at the International Telephone & Telegraph Company's (ITT's) Standard Telecommunications Laboratories (STL) in and near London, where he organized and championed the development of single-mode fiber optic systems in the 1960s.

Performance of Moving Average (MA) Chart Under Three Delta Control Limits and Six Delta Initiatives

An SQC chart is a graphical tool for representation of the data for knowing the extent of variations from the expected standard. This technique was first suggested by W.A. Shewhart of Bell Telephone Company based on 3σ limits. M. Harry, the engineer of Motorola has introduced the concept of six sigma in 1980. In 6σ limits, it is presumed to attain 3.4 or less number of defects per million of opportunities. Naik V.D and Desai J.M proposed an alternative of normal distribution, which is named as moderate distribution. The parameters of this distribution are mean and mean deviation. Naik V.D and Tailor K.S. have suggested the concept of 3-delta control limits and developed various control charts based on this distribution. Using these concepts, control limits based on 6-delta is suggested in this paper. Also the moving average chart is studied by using 6-delta methodology. A ready available table for mean deviation is prepared for the quality control experts for taking fast actions.

El consentimiento en los contratos telefónicos de prestación de servicios de comunicaciones ante la nueva regulación sobre protección de datos personales

Las operadoras de telefonía recurren cada vez con más frecuencia a campañas comerciales telefónicas con el objeto de ofertar a sus usuarios nuevos productos o para captar nuevos clientes. Sin embargo, se incumple en un alto porcentaje de las ocasiones la obligación de remitir el contrato por escrito al nuevo cliente o de la grabación telefónica a petición de un colegio arbitral u órgano judicial. Ante la inexistencia de contrato escrito o de la grabación del contrato verbal, las empresas han venido recurriendo a la figura del consentimiento tácito de cara a probar la realidad de un contrato objeto de discusión. Esta situación, con la aplicación de la nueva regulación en materia de protección de datos, va a experimentar una notable transformación al no tener cabida la aplicación del referido consentimiento tácito. Por este motivo, las empresas de telefonía deberán reestructurar la forma en la que vienen llevando a cabo su contratación telefónica si no quieren verse expuestas a fuertes sanciones por parte de la Agencia Española de Protección de Datos.