3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Individual use of enterprise mobility application systems in a banking environment(2019) Manhuwa, AbigailAdvances in mobile technology, coupled with the explosive growth in the use of mobile devices, have seen the birth of a new organisational technology trend termed Enterprise Mobility. Enterprise mobility is where employees can work from any location other than their offices. Mobile technology use is potentially changing people’s everyday tasks and freeing individuals from tethered systems such as desktop computers. Nevertheless, the Information System (IS) field has witnessed the use and non-use of organisational technologies which has led many researchers seeking to understand what influences employees to use or not use the innovated technologies. Purpose: The study sought to describe the use of enterprise mobility application systems by individual employees in a banking environment through the theoretical lens of Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model. The goal was to determine the appropriateness and fit of enterprise mobility technologies to employees’ tasks, in the context of a South African banking environment. Design/Methodology/Approach: This is a descriptive case study following an interpretive philosophy and using a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were administered with study participants at their offices, in a South African bank. Originality/Value: The study describes what influences the use of enterprise mobility. That is, the study extends enterprise mobility body of knowledge in the context of a banking environment. It informs practitioners with factors that may influence use and non-use of enterprise mobility application systems. Findings in Summary: Through the lenses of TTF theoretical framework the study findings reveal that, to influence individual use of enterprise mobility applications systems there should be harmony between the tasks at hand and the technologies used. The study shows that for the enterprise mobility technologies to be used, banking organisations should look on improving the underlying technology capabilities so that they are scalable to accommodate the changing user tasks requirements. The study further shows that, organisations should strike a balance between enterprise mobility and working in the office so that the essence of human interaction is not completely lost.Item The state of spectrum management reforms and the mobile broadband industry in the SADC region(2017-10-24) Thukani, Thabiso KennethSpectrum management reforms involve a departure from state-commanded administrative methods to market-driven property rights and or technology-enabled spectrum commons. This study explores spectrum management reforms that have been undertaken in the last decade, between 2006 and 2016, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, with specific focus on the mobile broadband (MBB) industry. As a result, only spectrum bands allocated to terrestrial mobile and identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in ITU Region 1 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) were considered. The purpose was to firstly analyse the progress thus far in reforming spectrum management practice in the region and secondly to critically analyse the effects of these reforms on the MBB industry in SADC within the framework of high demand for more spectrum as the cornerstone for rapid diffusion of MBB. Using a constructivist case study methodology, qualitative research was conducted in three SADC countries, namely, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa, representing small, medium and large markets respectively. The study draws on published documents such as policies, legislation, regulations and directly from individuals tasked with spectrum management in public and private sector organisations in these countries. The findings reveal that several market-driven reforms such as technology and service neutrality, spectrum re-farming and administrative incentive pricing (AIP), together with technology-enabled reforms such as commons or license-exempt spectrum for MBB technologies are all becoming widespread in the region. However, secondary trading and auctions have been stillborn concepts, partly due to market concentration concerns and appropriateness issues. The artificial scarcity of MBB spectrum supply in SADC is laid bare against a backdrop of general scarcity for demand and a discord over how this spectrum should be assigned and to whom. Vast amounts of allocated mobile spectrum in SADC lie fallow or are encumbered by other services such as broadcasting or at times are historically assigned to Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) applications. Analysis of the data from these three country case study provides insights that may be relevant to many other countries in the region. In conclusion, the study advances that the implementation of spectrum management reforms should be nuanced as these can impact, positively or negatively, on the distributive agenda of government. This research further advances knowledge by positing a novel conceptual framework for spectrum management reform based on the finding that the latter is not a binary exercise of a departure from administrative approach to either a market-driven or a technology-enabled one. However, spectrum management reform can be a continuum on which different elements of administrative, market-driven and technology-enabled approaches can be applied to varying degrees, depending on the respective country’s context.Item The effect of social presence, mobile phone usage, and trust on venture success in Johannesburg(2017) Ncube, Tinahe MbisanaThe study investigates the relationship social presence has on venture performance through the use of mobile devices for Johannesburg based small to medium business ventures. The study touches on the concept of social presence and aims to evaluate how business network trust and social presence influence the success of SMME’s in Johannesburg. This study aims to help entrepreneurs understand how to leverage the benefits of using their social presence and to aims to understand how to use mobile phone technology benefit their ventures. This paper is equally important to researchers who are interested in the field of social presence and mobile technology.Item An investigation into jamming GSM systems through exploiting weaknesses in the control channel forward error correction scheme(2017) Timm, GarethThe ability to communicate effectively is of key importance in military scenarios. The ability to interfere with these communications is a useful tool in gaining competitive advantages by disrupting enemy communications and protecting allied troops against threats such as remotely detonated explosives. By reducing the number of corrupt bits required by using customised error patterns, the transmission time required by a jammer can be reduced without sacrificing effectiveness. To this end a MATLAB simulation of the GSM control channel forward error correction scheme is tested against four jamming methodologies and three bit corruption techniques. These methodologies are aimed at minimising the number of transmitted jamming bits required from a jammer to prevent communications on the channel. By using custom error patterns it is possible to target individual components of the forward error correction scheme and bypass others. A ran dom error approach is implemented to test the system against random errors on the channel, a burst error approach is implemented to test the convolutional code against burst errors, and two proposed custom error patterns are implemented aimed at exploiting the Fire code’s error detection method. The burst error pattern approach required the least number of transmitted jamming bits. The system also shows improvements over current control channel jamming techniques in literature.Item Monitoring and evaluation of universal service obligations for mobile network operators in South Africa.(2013-06-04) Ncgobo, Victor MandlaUniversal Service Obligations (USOs) have been used, for over a decade, as a regulatory mechanism to bridge the digital divide in South Africa. For USOs to be effective and efficient in bridging the digital divide, it requires close coordination between various impacted and interested stakeholders, such as mobile network operators (MNOs), the ICT regulatory authority (the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa), and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa in order to extend the number of beneficiaries of the USOs. Furthermore, this requires stakeholders to understand the full impact, as well as the costs and benefits (financial and non financial) before imposing the USOs. The evidence from this research confirms that there was no monitoring and evaluation of USOs for MNOs during their implementation. More importantly, the Regulatory Impact Assessment (as a regulatory tool) was never used by ICASA in respect of the USOs initiative. This led to the failure of the initiative in achieving most of its objectives. Such failure can be attributed to lack of understanding by ICASA of the general impact of imposing the USOs upon MNOs, given that no impact assessment was done before such imposition. Recommendations arising from the research include the need for a shared vision on the USOs initiative, the need for clearly identified and defined roles for all stakeholders with an interest in the initiative, the need for a properly analysed and know ICT access gap, the need to balance the use of market and non market mechanisms in respect of USOs, the to ensure a proper funding mechanisms for USOs, and the need to identify effective regulatory governance in respect of USOs.Item Fixed-to-mobile broadband substitution in South Africa.(2012-10-17) Moroeng, Letlhogonolo Hendrick.Broadband is an important technology for development. Research has proven that development is directly linked to high speed internet. Over the past few years mobile broadband has overtaken fixed-line broadband as a primary connection for many households. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate how pricing and quality of service have either encouraged or inhibited fixed-to-mobile broadband in South Africa, and research if there are any other factors affecting broadband growth. The study, conducted in a predominantly middle-income neighbourhood, found that there is a trend towards fixed-to-mobile broadband substitution in South Africa.Item Performance evaluation of voice handover between LTE and UMTS(2012-09-26) Namakoye, JoyceThe main objective of seamless mobility is to enable mobile users to stay connected while roaming across heterogeneous networks. As cellular networks evolve from the third generation Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) to the Long Term Evolution (LTE), a new Evolved Packet Core (EPC) will support heterogeneous radio access networks on the same platform. UMTS provides voice services in the circuit switched domain; while LTE operates in the packet switched domain. Cellular network operators thus face the challenge of providing voice services during initial deployment of LTE due to difficulty in mobility between the two domains. Seamless voice handover between packet switched LTE and the circuit switched UMTS network is therefore an important tool in solving this problem. This report investigates the performance of inter-Radio Access Technology voice handover between LTE and UMTS. The schemes evaluated were Voice Call Continuity (VCC) for UMTS to LTE handover and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) for LTE to UMTS handover. The performance evaluation was done using mathematical models and equations that were derived for the handover service interruption time. The resulting equations were simulated and the output was analysed and compared with the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications.