Inverse Relationship between the Volume of Intra-City Travel Pattern and the Use of Global System Mobile Commmunication (GSM) in Lagos, Nigeria

Telecommunication is the growing enabler of activities at a distance.  Its highest value is in helping us allocate our limited time and attention with the associated requirement of movement between various locations.  Telecommunication facilitates a better level of proximity to the people and places we care about.  However, this only happens when we consciously focus our use of telecommunication facility like GSM on deciding where and with whom we should be physically close. In spite of the widespread use of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), its influence on various aspects of the society is yet to be empirically investigated. In particular, the inverse relationship between the volume of intra-city trip patterns and the use of Global System for Mobile Communication of the Lagos residents. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. A survey design was adopted. The study sample consisted of 2,500 households in Lagos metropolis. The questionnaire was administered in direct proportion to the population size of each of Local Government Areas (LGAs). Systematic sampling technique was used to select every tenth building on the identified streets. In a multi-family dwelling, random sampling was used to select one household. The household head or his/her representative was interviewed on intra-city trip patterns of GSM-owners of the household. The data collected were analyzed using simple linear regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) .The usage of GSM generated almost two (β=l.72) trips per call and there was a significant relationship between the volume of trips and GSM usage (F113=5.72, p≤ 0.05).  It is therefore recommended that transport planners in Lagos need to develop alternative intra-city transport systems. This can be achieved through a shift to the development of other land transport systems by policy makers.   Key Words:     Travel patterns, Global System for Mobile Communication, Intra-city trips, Policy makers, Lagos

Infrastructural Drivers of Online Shopping: An International Perspective

While online shopping expenditures have been increasing in both developed and developing economies, they still account for a small share of total retail sales. Significant differences also exist across countries in the amount of money consumers spend on a per capita basis on online purchases. The authors utilize the conceptual foundations of infrastructural framework to examine the effects of infrastructural drivers on online shopping expenditures in 43 countries. Findings show that per capita telecommunications investments and per capita gross national income are significantly associated with per capita online shopping expenditures. Privacy protection, Internet penetration, and credit card penetration were not significant

Telecommunications Network Planning and Maintenance

Telecommunications network operators are on a constant challenge to provide new services which require ubiquitous broadband access. In an attempt to do so, they are faced with many problems such as the network coverage or providing the guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). Network planning is a multi-objective optimization problem which involves clustering the area of interest by minimizing a cost function which includes relevant parameters, such as installation cost, distance between user and base station, supported traffic, quality of received signal, etc. On the other hand, service assurance deals with the disorders that occur in hardware or software of the managed network. This paper presents a large number of multicriteria techniques that have been developed to deal with different kinds of problems regarding network planning and service assurance. The state of the art presented will help the reader to develop a broader understanding of the problems in the domain

Evaluation of quality public transport criteria in terms of passenger satisfaction

This article presents a detailed description and explanation of the methodology for evaluation of quality public transport criteria in terms of passenger satisfaction. In 2011-2014 this method was applied in an assessment of passenger satisfaction with the urban public transport system in Ostrava. In order to assess passengers' satisfaction, traffic survey has been chosen utilizing questionnaire and student inquirers. The results achieved by application of the method have been processed to evaluate time accessibility criteria of a public transport system. Time accessibility criteria group (accessibility of stops, waiting for a connection and transferability in the public transport network) evaluates physical and psychological aspects of the passenger during his arrival at the station, while leaving the station, in the course of waiting for a connection and during the transfer. The time accessibility criteria are considered the most significant criteria that impact a passenger's decision to utilise public transport options.Web of Science171271

An Overview and Examination of the Indian Services Sector

India’s service sector has grown rapidly since the 1990s. Domestic demand for services has increased as incomes have risen, triggering the expansion of industries such as banking, education, and telecommunications. Exports have also increased rapidly, led by information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO). India’s ability to offer low-cost, high-quality IT-BPO services has made it a world leader in this industry. However, employment in services has not grown as quickly as output. The majority of India’s jobseekers are low-skilled, but demand for workers is growing fastest in higher-skill industries. The supply of highly-skilled workers has not kept pace with demand, causing wages to increase faster for these workers than for lower-skilled ones. India’s government has supported the growth of service industries through a mix of deregulation, liberalization, and incentive programs, such as the Software Technology Parks of India. Nevertheless, burdensome regulations, poor infrastructure, and foreign investment restrictions continue to affect service firms’ ability to do business. USITC analysis suggests that additional liberalization would lead to an increase in India’s imports of services