An Evaluation of Diverting Mobile Calls via VoIP While Traveling Abroad: The Case of a Custom-Developed Solution

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Salford Business School
An Evaluation of Diverting Mobile Calls via VoIP While
Traveling Abroad: The Case of a Custom-Developed
Solution
Ibrahim Malek
Student ID: @00475867
A dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of The University of
Salford for the degree of MSc Information System Management
March 2018

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Declaration
Salford BusinessSchool
Declaration on Conduct of Assessed Work
(Academic Good Conduct)
Assessed work which does not have this form attached will be returned unmarked.
Programme & Year Msc of Information System Management 2018
Module Dissertation
Module Tutor NA
Tutorial Group NA
Assignment Title Dissertation
Briefly, unfair means in assessedwork is likelyto fallintoone or more ofthe followingcategories:
Plagiarism.
Plagiarisminvolves taking the workof another personor source andusingit as if it were one’s own. Workincludes,
but is not restrictedto, written work, ideas, musical compositions, computer programs, laboratoryor surveyresults,
diagrams, graphs, drawings anddesigns.
Collusion.
Collusion involves working withothers ontasks that should be carriedout onanindividual basis. Collusionshouldnot
be confused withcollaborative workwhichis sometimes used as a means of learning. It will be clearlystatedwhen
collaborative work is permitted inanassessment. Unlessadvisedotherwise, anywork whichis submitted for
assessment must be producedbyindividual students.
Falsifyingexperimental or other investigative results.
This couldinvolve a range of things that make it appear that informationhas beencollectedbyscientific investigation,
the compilationof questionnaire results, etc. whereasinrealityit has beenmade up or altered to provide a more
favourable result.
Contracting another to write a piece of assessedwork.
This involves anymeans wherebya person does work onbehalf of another. It includes assessments done for someone
else infullor inpart bya fellow student, a friend or familymember. It includes sitting anexaminationfor someone
else. It alsocovers obtaining material from Internet ‘cheat sites’ or other sources ofwork. Penalties for thistype of

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unfair means are likelyto applybothto a student whodoeswork onbehalfof another andone whohas work done
for him/her.
I declare that
 this work is my own
 if this is a group project, each student has contributed to the work in accordance with the set criteria
 the work of others used in its completion has been duly acknowledged
 experimental or other investigative results have not been falsified
I have read and understood the University Policy on the Conduct of Assessed Work (Academic Good Conduct)*
*http://www.academic.salford.ac.uk/aqa/sections/28_conduct_assessed_work.pdf
It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of this policy and procedure.
Signature Ibrahim Malek
Name (print) Ibrahim MohamedAbel El MalekSaid
ID Number @00475867 Date 13-Mar-2018
Final Word Count is 16404, excluding tables and illustrations

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Abstract
Traditionally, international phone calls were handled by the PSTN network, PSTN or the
public switched telephone network, where the world’s telephone networks or typically
operated by the government or private providers. Such networks provide various types
of public phone networks that provide local and international telephone services. The
PSTN network generally provides coverage across the globe, although it possesses high
running costs especially with respect to international calls via the PSTN and International
mobile roaming. The development and availability of VoIP technology allows for the
transfer of voice data (such as calls) over the internet using different data networks, and
has been adopted by, amongst other technologies, smartphones, This study devises and
evaluates the concept of using VoIP via the Linux SentOS7 operating system for the
purpose of reducing the costs of international mobile roaming by diverting the calls over
mobile applications. The study conducts an economic evaluation of the system against
the international mobile roaming across five countries, comprising of different political
systems, culture, population counts and economies, via an online survey and personal
interviews. The economic value of the system was calculated by collecting the current
roaming price list and compare it with the estimated running cost of the solution. The
results revealed more than 90% of participants were not happy with current international
roaming costs, and high interest in the custom-developed and proposed solution, and
more than 75% are willing to use it. Social media marketing campaigns will be required
to enter some countries that have not experienced VoIP thus far, such as the case of
Saudi Arabia.

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Acknowledgements
This study is based on the research conducted on the International Mobile Roaming and
VoIP on Linux call solutions between January to March 2018 in Saudi Arabia, Serbia and
Egypt. I am grateful to a number of friends, family members and colleagues for their
utmost support and encouragement from the start till the final submission.
In Netherlands, I would like to thank Mrs. Iman van der kraan and her sons who put me
on the right track. Subsequently, from Saudi Arabia Mrs. Zeinab El Sherif for her endless
support, Ahmed Al Nahdi and Mr. Tariq Batarfi and Suhail Khalid. Not the least, from
Serbia Ms. Marina Alieksic and Mr. Dragic Mircovic, from Egypt Mr. Mustafa Rashid and
my lovely family.
Lastly, from United Kingdom, I would like to pass my gratitude to the support team, the
board of University of Salford and Dr.Barry Ip for his great supervision.

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Table of Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................4
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................5
List of Figures.........................................................................................................................7
List of Tables ..........................................................................................................................9
Chapter 1-Introduction .........................................................................................................12
1.1. A Brief History of Telecommunications and Personal Telephones..................................12
1.2. Research Aims............................................................................................................15
1.3. The Issue Under Discussion.........................................................................................15
1.4. Overview of the Remaining Chapters...........................................................................16
Chapter 2- Literature Review.................................................................................................17
2.2. What is the IMR?........................................................................................................17
2.2.1.The Cost of IMR....................................................................................................18
2.3. What is VOIP? ............................................................................................................18
2.4. The Operating System Solution ...................................................................................19
2.5. The New Solution Idea................................................................................................22
2.5.1. The Server Tier.....................................................................................................22
2.5.2. The Application Tier.............................................................................................25
2.5.3.The Bridge Device.....................................................................................................25
2.6. The Advantages..........................................................................................................26
2.7. The Disadvantages......................................................................................................28
Chapter 3: Methodology.......................................................................................................29
3.1. Research Design.........................................................................................................29
3.2. Data Sources..............................................................................................................30
3.2.1. The Primary sources of data..................................................................................30
3.2.2. The Secondary Source of data...............................................................................35
3.3. Measures of selection.................................................................................................36
3.3.4. Data Analysis Technique ..........................................................................................37
3.3.5. Limitations of Methodology .....................................................................................38

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Chapter 4: Analysis and Results.............................................................................................39
Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................... 116
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................... 117
5.1. Conclusions.............................................................................................................. 117
5.1.1.Customer Acceptance............................................................................................. 118
5.2. Recommendations and Areas for Future Work........................................................... 119
References......................................................................................................................... 120
Appendix 1......................................................................................................................... 124
Appendix 2......................................................................................................................... 125
Appendix 3......................................................................................................................... 128
Appendix 4......................................................................................................................... 129
Appendix 5......................................................................................................................... 130
Appendix 6......................................................................................................................... 131
Appendix 7......................................................................................................................... 135
Appendix 8......................................................................................................................... 138
List of Figures
Figure 1 Proposed Call Cycle Solution.....................................................................................23
Figure 2 –Call Cycle Solution Using the Web Dialler.................................................................27
Figure 3–The Demographics Figure of Canada........................................................................44
Figure 4–The Percentage of Male to female...........................................................................45
Figure 5–The Percentage of Married to single ........................................................................46
Figure 6–The Percentage of Married to Single with children....................................................46
Figure 7–Percentages of people with high rate.......................................................................47
Figure 8–The formal calls solutions In Canada ........................................................................48
Figure 9– Personal calls solutions...........................................................................................49
Figure 10–The RoamingAmount per Category........................................................................50
Figure 11–The level of satisfaction of the roaming service.......................................................51
Figure 12–The knowledge of the VOIP applications.................................................................52
Figure 13–The ability of movement to the new solution..........................................................53
Figure 14–The Interest In The New Solution cost....................................................................54
Figure 15: The Survey Section one Egypt Data ........................................................................59
Figure 16– The Percentage Male to Female............................................................................60
Figure 17– The Percentage Married to Single .........................................................................61
Figure 18The Percentage of Married, Single, and Those with Children .....................................61

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Figure 19– The Percentage of people with high travel rate......................................................62
Figure 20– The Formal calls in Egypt......................................................................................63
Figure 21– The Personal calls in Egypt....................................................................................64
Figure 22: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar .................................................................65
Figure 23– The level of satisfaction of the roaming cost in Egypt .............................................66
Figure 24– The Knowledge of VoIP Applications in Egypt.........................................................67
Figure 25– The Market Ability to move to the new solution ....................................................68
Figure 26– The Interest in the solution cost............................................................................69
Figure 27: The Demographics Of Saudi Arabia ........................................................................72
Figure 28: The Percentage Male to Female Saudi Arabia.........................................................74
Figure 29: The Percentage Male to Female Saudi Arabia.........................................................75
Figure 30: The Percentage Married to Single Saudi Arabia......................................................76
Figure 31: The Percentage Married to Single with children Saudi Arabia ..................................76
Figure 32: The Percentage Married to Single with children Saudi Arabia ..................................77
Figure 33The People with High travel rate..............................................................................78
Figure 34: The Formal calls Outside of Saudi Arabia................................................................79
Figure 35: The Personal call Outside of Saudi Arabia...............................................................80
Figure 36: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar .................................................................81
Figure 37: The Level of Satisfaction of the Roaming Price in Saudi Arabia.................................82
Figure 38: The knowledge of VoIP in Saudi Arabia...................................................................83
Figure 39: The Market Ability to move to the new solution .....................................................84
Figure 40The interest in solution cost in Saudi Arabia.............................................................85
Figure 41: The Demographics Of Serbia..................................................................................89
Figure 42: Percentage of Male to Female In Serbia .................................................................90
Figure 43:The percentage of the married to single..................................................................91
Figure 44showsthe percentage of the marriedto single people inSerbiawiththe amountof
children................................................................................................................................91
Figure 45Traveler Percentage................................................................................................92
Figure 46: the Formal calls solutions in Serbia ........................................................................93
Figure 47: Personal calls solutions against the Mobile Roaming IN Serbia.................................94
Figure 48:The Roaming Per Year IN Dollar..............................................................................95
Figure 49: the level of Satisfaction of the Roaming Price in Serbia............................................96
Figure 50: The knowledge of VoIP in Serbia............................................................................97
Figure 51: The Market Ability to move to the new solution .....................................................98
Figure 52: The interest in solution cost in Serbia.....................................................................99
Figure 53–The Demographics Of Switzerland........................................................................ 104
Figure 54– The Percentage Male to Female.......................................................................... 105
Figure 55– The Percentage Married to Single ....................................................................... 106
Figure 56– The Percentage of people with high travel rate.................................................... 106
Figure 57– The Formal calls in Switzerland ........................................................................... 107
Figure 58– The Personal calls in Switzerland......................................................................... 108
Figure 59: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar ............................................................... 109

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Figure 60– The level of satisfaction of the roaming cost in Switzerland. ................................. 110
Figure 61– The Knowledge of VoIP Applications in Switzerland.............................................. 111
Figure 62– The Market Ability to move to the new solution .................................................. 112
Figure 63– The Interest in the solution cost.......................................................................... 113
Figure 64–Total Amount of roaming divided on Sex.............................................................. 114
Figure 65: The Percentage of total roaming according to the marital status. .......................... 115
Figure 66: The Roaming According to the Locations.............................................................. 116
List of Tables
Table 1-The Used Linux Command Line..................................................................................25
Table 2-Provider Interview questionnaire...............................................................................31
Table 3-Questionnaire Section1.............................................................................................32
Table 4Questionnaire Section2..............................................................................................33
Table 5-The Targeted Sample................................................................................................34
Table 6-The Target Sample Economic Data.............................................................................35
Table 7: The Target Sample Economic Data............................................................................40
Table 8: The Roaming Pricelist Canada...................................................................................43
Table 9: Survey Section One, Canada Data .............................................................................44
Table 10: The Percentage of Male to female...........................................................................44
Table 11: The Percentage of Single to Married .......................................................................45
Table 12:The formal callsin Canada.......................................................................................47
Table 13– Personal calls solutions..........................................................................................48
Table 14: The Roaming Amount per Year ...............................................................................49
Table 15: The level of satisfaction of the roaming service........................................................50
Table 16: The Knowledge of VoIP Application.........................................................................51
Table 17: The Ability to move to the new solution..................................................................52
Table 18: The interest in solution cost....................................................................................53
Table 19: The Roaming Pricelist in Egypt ................................................................................57
Table 20: The Survey Section one Egypt Data .........................................................................58
Table 21: The Percentage Male to Female..............................................................................59
Table 22: The Percentage Married to Single ...........................................................................60
Table 23: The formal calls in Egypt.........................................................................................62
Table 24: The Personal calls in Egypt......................................................................................63
Table 25: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar ..................................................................64
Table 26: the level of satisfaction of the roaming service in Egypt............................................65
Table 27: The Knowledge of VoIP Applications In Egypt...........................................................66
Table 28: The Market Ability to move to the new solution ......................................................67
Table 29: The interest in solution cost....................................................................................68
Table 30The Roaming Pricelist Saudi Arabia ...........................................................................71
Table 31: The Survey Section one Saudi Arabia’s Data.............................................................72
Table 32: The Interviews Saudi Arabia’ Data...........................................................................73

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Table 33: Male to female in Saudi Arabia Online Survey..........................................................73
Table 34: The Male tofemale in Saudi ArabiaPersonal Interviews...........................................74
Table 37: The formal calls in Saudi Arabia...............................................................................78
Table 38: The Personal calls in Saudi Arabia............................................................................79
Table 39: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar ..................................................................80
Table 40: the level of satisfaction of the roaming service ........................................................81
Table 41: The Knowledge of VoIP Applications In Saudi Arabia ................................................82
Table 42: The Market Ability to move to the new solution ......................................................83
Table 43The interestin solution costin Saudi Arabia ..............................................................84
Table 44: The Roaming Pricelist Serbia...................................................................................87
Table 45: The Online Survey Section one Serbia’s Data ...........................................................88
Table 46.: The Interviews Serbia’ Data ...................................................................................89
Table 47: The Male tofemale in Serbia ..................................................................................90
Table 49: The formal calls in Serbia........................................................................................92
Table 50: The Personal calls in Serbia..............................................................................93
Table 51: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar...........................................................94
Table 52: the level of satisfaction of the roaming service in Serbia..................................95
Table 53: The Knowledge of VoIP Applications In Serbia ................................................96
Table 54: The Market Ability to move to the new solution ................................................97
Table 55: The interest in solution cost in Serbia ...............................................................98
Table 56: the Roaming Pricelist in Switzerland............................................................... 103
Table 57: The Survey Section one Switzerland Data ..................................................... 104
Table 58: The Percentage Male to Female............................................................................ 105
Table 59: The Percentage Married to Single ......................................................................... 105
Table 60: The formal calls in Switzerland.............................................................................. 107
Table 61: The Personal calls in Switzerland ................................................................... 108
Table 62: The Roaming Amount per Year in dollar......................................................... 108
Table 63: the level of satisfaction of the roaming service in Switzerland ....................... 109
Table 64: The Knowledge of VoIP Applications In Switzerland ...................................... 110
Table 65The Market Ability to move to the new solution ...................................................... 111
Table 66: The interest in solution cost............................................................................. 112
Table 67: Total Roaming Usage Per Year.............................................................................. 113
Table 68: Total Roaming Amountfor Marital Status.............................................................. 114
Table 69: Amount of roaming per year in the different study locations.................................. 115

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Chapter 1-Introduction
1.1. A Brief History of Telecommunications and Personal
Telephones
Humans are naturally social creatures with different needs and feelings. We care,
love and cooperate, but to respond to the different feelings and actions around us we
must communicate with each other. "Social relationships play an important functional
role in human society both at the collective level and by providing benefits to individuals"
(Saramäki, et al., 2014). Communication between people is the main role of interactions
between the human societies; we need to communicate to show a feeling or to share an
idea. According to the history of the development of the telephone, in the first period of
March 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Garry invented the first telephone
device ever, since then the need of a public telephone Network has appeared. In 1880
the first phone line network was built between Massachusetts and Somerville.
"During the second period up to 1893, Bell had a monopoly on telephones in the
United States. During the third, from 1894 until about World War I, Bell struggled against
many competing telephone companies" (Fischer, 1992). After the great success of the
first telephone network in the USA, the demand of building more telephone networks
started to grow widely until the phone network became what the international public
switching network we have today (PSTN). The (PSTN) definition refers to the Public
Switched Telephone Networks which is the globally connected voice telephone networks
worldwide. It also contains both government and commercial phone networks.
By the beginning of the 1990s, all the telecommunication companies in the industry
started to provide different types of (PSTN) network services to the subscribers. One of
the most protocols was an Intelligent Network (IN) Called Singling SYSTEM Number
7(SS7). SS7 that protocol was considered one of the most reliable and capable
signalling protocols. (Subramanian & Dutta, 2013). In the early time period of 1900, the
phone calls were handled manually by switch operators who were responsible to hook
the phone lines together on the switch by inserting the required cable jacks on the
switchboard to allow the connection between certain subscribers. During that time period
the call sequence was different the subscriber was forced to contact with the local
central who is providing the service then the switch operator who is acting like the
middleman will do the required actions on the switch to hook the lines together.
In the beginning of 1990s most of the public telephone network central systems was
moved from the old analog to the new digital technology, the final running cost of the
service was decreased and more subscribers were able to register to the telephone
service. The home telephone became more popular and some extra service and support
devices started to appear like international calls, Answer machines and Phone
Recorders.

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The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the largest public networks ever its
covering most of the world, There are many processes inside the modern PSTN
Network, The process of making a call begins by taking the phone line to the off-hook
status, sending a signal to the local central device that there is a service request from
the subscriber phone. The central device, which is always monitoring the client
telephone device status responds with a tone, a process known as phone attending,
mostly is similar to the network heartbeat between servers nowadays. The service
subscriber starts entering the requested client telephone number upon receiving the
tone. The central office stores the entered number, translates the number into another
central switch location and a path to the end-phone location, and send a request to
query the status of the called phone number is it in use or available to receive the
request, according to the status of the end-client the switch will divert the call and the
phone will ring or will return a busy tone to the caller.
In April 3, 1973, the first Mobile phone was invented by Martin Cooper, the first cell
phone call was held between Mr. Cooper after the installation of a 900 MHZ station near
the sixth avenue in the area between the streets 53 and 54 in New York city and the call
respond was from the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey. Cooper's inaugural mobile
conversation is remembered as, "I'm ringing you just to see if my call sounds good at
your end,' or something to that effect." (Seward, 2013)
In the mid-1980s the mobile phone service started to became more popular in some
countries like USA and Canada but still the cell phone devices and the service running
cost was very expansive and out of reach for most of the people. In the United
Kingdom the first mobile phone call was made across the Vodafone company network
on the first of January 1985 by veteran comedian Ernie Wise (BBC, 2005). Since the
cell phone innovation the updates on the phone device itself and the support network
never stopped, in 1992 the 2G network was invented as the second generation of the
mobile cell phone network coverage based on the 900MHZ and 1800 GSM support
tower stations, moreover; it was the first use of the digital encryption for the phone calls,
moreover the new service of SMS messages was appeared.
In 1998 Nokia the cell phone market leader on that time announced the Nokia 9000
Communicator which was the first phone that can communicate with Email servers and
faxes; however the phone was still running on the black screen, but the demand of using
the internet on cell phone achieved a wide appeal between the societies. "The Nokia
9000 Communicator provides a wide range of mobile communications services as well
as personal organiser functions. The product combines a GSM phone with applications
like fax, e-mail, short messaging and Internet access." (Nokia, 1996)
Into more modern times, by the beginning of the millennium, cell phone devices were
changed from the black and white to a full coloured screen and the phones became able
to record and play sound, In 2000 the first cell phone with a built in camera was built by
SHARP in Japan ,"The J-SH04 was the first mobile phone to feature a 110,000-pixel
CMOS imager that allowed users to instantly e-mail photos they take. It was sold

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through Japanese carrier J-Phone" (SHARP, 2000). The high demand of owning a
phone with a built-in camera caused a race between the companies around the globe to
own more and more of the market share, however; there was a need for a faster network
to send and receive files using the cell phones.
The 3G Network refers to the third generation mobile network service that runs on the
UMTS 2100 Tower stations, it is the successor of the 2G Network, in this new generation
the service offered faster internet speed and was the first appearance for the internet
mobile broadband devices; "3G is short for third-generation mobile telephone
technology. It gives you an indication of how efficiently data can be transferred" (Khaw,
2006). The social media mobile application started to appear and the video call became
more popular," Video conferencing was first marketed as 3G's most essential feature.
However, studies have shown that music downloads are in strong demand" (Khaw,
2006). Moreover; the service running cost became more competitive for people and the
number of the cell phone users was almost doubled.
In 2013, the 4th
generation mobile network was switched on in the United Kingdom the
4G was switched on in Oxford City, People in Oxford City are now able to access the
new 4G network, It means the people with smart cell phones will be able to watch films,
download music and media files browse the different internet websites at superfast
speeds (Stern, 2013). 4G refers to the 4th generation of the network service stations
LTE 1800, LTE 2300; LTE 2600, this network is providing the ultra-broadband
connection with faster internet access than the 3rd generation networks which made it
more suitable to the USB and the wireless modems. In 2016 Australia announced to
switch off the 2G networks to give more space for the 4G tower stations, "Telstra on
Thursday switched off its 2G network, and urged any remaining customers still using a
2G device to upgrade to a newer model" (Wood, 2016).
All cell phone calls start using a dialler and communication signal between the different
network service towers and the cell phone device, every company will charge any
international subscriber according to the tax law and the local pricelist in the country
currency. The new solution will be based on a single clustered backbone server which
will act as parent for the mobile applications that will be installed on the cell phones, that
backbone server will be based on Linux CentOS operating system for some reasons.
"The Linux CentOS is a Linux distribution, built on the same concept of the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, The CentOS Linux distribution is a stable, predictable, manageable
and reproducible platform derived from the sources of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)"
(Centos, 2018).
The CentOS operates under free distribution, similarly as most of Linux distribution the
CentOS is stable reliable operating system that can run the VOIP service simply,
however when going for any free open source operating system there is no technical
support service, but still can go for the community forum for any technical issue. The
CentOS system is a project of a community-driven free software effort focused on

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delivering a robust open source ecosystem (Centos, 2018), and can handle the Asterisk
VOIP systems.
1.2. Research Aims
In view of the general background given above, this dissertation seeks to examine
the idea of diverting the- international mobile roaming (IMR) calls over the voice over
internet protocol (VOIP) using different technologies on the Linux CentOS servers and a
support bridge device. To achieve this, attempt made be made to answer the main
research question of:
How can Internet VOIP protocol be used to reduce cell phone international
roaming bill?
In doing so, attempts will also be made to answer the following associated questions:
1. What are the required applications to use the VOIP protocol on the different cell
phones platforms?
2. How to allow the Cell phones to Communicate over the VOIP while on (IMR)
International mobile roaming networks?
3. What are the servers' Tier requirements to build a stable live connection?
4. How can VOIP connections be secured?
5. What are the VOIP requirements to run a smooth connection on the
Smartphones?
6. What will be the impact of using the VOIP Protocol on phone bills?
The main research aim is to devise the possible construction of a smart device that can
communicate with the Mobile SIM card and divert the calls on-time using VOIP to reduce
roaming bills by using the Internet within the host country (for example, that in which the
user is visiting) without using any any local Mobile GSM Networks Towers from that host
country. Such a solution would, in theory, eliminate the resulting costs that would
otherwise be incurred due to the use of GSM networks.
1.3. The Issue Under Discussion
The central issue to be tackled in this research is to investigate "the high level of
charges for international mobile roaming (IMR)" (Rittinghouse, 2005). Responding to a
phone call or even an SMS while traveling abroad has and continues to be a potentially
troublesome and expensive issue because of the high rate of the mobile roaming, have
you ever experienced the roaming bill for your mobile phone to be an excessively high
amount?
"The high international mobile roaming charges have created concerns for consumers
and regulators around the world" (Voon, 2013): such an issue is likely one that has been
experienced by many cell phone users worldwide, Moreover if the subscriber did not
allow the roaming future before he leave the home country there will be no connection at
all.

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1.4. Overview of the Remaining Chapters
The dissertation is divided into five different Chapters, which will be briefly introduced
as the following:
Chapter1: Introduction. The first chapter has presented a brief overview of the need of
communication for the human societies, the telephone history and the different
development stages on the generations of the mobile cell phone devices and the
network services.
Chapter 2: Literature Review. In this chapter, selected academic literature of the different
Technologies related to the new solution, the history of the VOIP protocol, the CentOS
operating system, some related theory on the VOIP protocol and academic literature. A
conceptual framework and steps to develop the hypothesis of the study will also be
presented.
Chapter 3: Methodology. This chapter will critically examine the different research
approaches and techniques. It will also include
discussions on the way to data samples will be collected and finding suitable samples
from different countries including Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Serbia, and Egypt.
Chapter 4: The Analysis and Results. Here, the research findings will be explained
briefly according to the samples of data collected in the different countries and the
results after the analysis will evaluate the running cost of the cell phone in different
countries using IMR.
Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusions. In this final chapter, further interpretations and
explanations of findings are provided and comparisons are made between these and
existing literature. The findings will be summarized towards obtaining the final result on
cell phone bills using the system the proposed system compared to the IMR on PSTN
network.

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Chapter 2- Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
This chapter will provide a background and literature of VOIP different technologies,
IMR and Linux CentOS, the chapter will also contain some previous searches on the
cost of IMR and VOIP, the definitions, framework and the new system hypothesis will
also be discussed. The findings from this chapter will the refinement of the research plan
for further research later in this dissertation and will consider the key factors for
minimizing the cost of international roaming calls using VOIP and the Linux operating
system. This review combines information gained through university library books,
internet papers and personal experience in the Linux. The review will also help to inform
policymakers and other interested parties of the current state of the international
roaming cost and the ability of the Linux and VOIP to minimize the cost of mobile
roaming.
The cost of phone communication has always represented a concern for people all
over the world; however, there always a need to make an international phone call, but in
order to success, the presented solution must be able to compete with other
international phone connection types. To evaluate any communication system the
following factors must be analysed, namely:
1. The running cost.
2. The quality of call.
3. The security.
4. The availability.
To minimize the running cost per call On the IMR, the communication system can
be run on a VOIP protocol using different technologies and Linux operating system will
act as the software call manager server and switchboard.
2.2. What is the IMR?
International mobile roaming (IMR) refers to the local network service coverage
provided by a network service provider to enable some other countries network
subscribers to use his mobile network towers to receive and make calls with extra
charges. Whenever a subscriber travels to any other country abroad that his -local
network provider does not have any network infrastructure there. The word mobile
'roaming' refers to the services provided by a telecommunications service provider to
enable its customers travelling abroad to make and receive calls using different provider
network in the visited country using the same mobile numbers the roaming service
includes also the SMS messages, internet data access using mobile cell phones, or
other mobile devices like broadband routers (Voon, 2013).On the GSMA organization
website, the IMR was identified in the study report as International Mobile Roaming

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(IMR) is a service that allows customers to seamlessly continue to use their cell phone
or other mobile routers, to make and receive phone calls and SMS messages, internet
data, whilst visiting another country (GSMA, 2012). As an example, a phone user from
Switzerland who is using the TalkTalk company travels to Egypt which does not contain
any network infrastructure for TalkTalk. As soon as he arrives in Egypt his cell phone will
be diverted to use Orange Mobile network towers to receive and make calls.
2.2.1.TheCostof IMR
The IMR is fully deepening on the GSM stations, what is the GSM? GSM refers to
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), as a mobile network holds the
most universal coverage so far, is serving over 2 billion people by now. In addition, “The
developing trend of mobile network shows that voice and low-rate data services will still
be the major role in mobile communication market" (Yuan, et al., 2008). The cost of
building GSM network tower stations is very high, also the required spare parts for the
maintenance operation is high, there is no company can cover all over the world, there
always a need to share the service between the companies in different countries to
achieve more area coverage.
Every telecommunication network or phone service provider has its own pricelist that
is influenced by the tax law of the country that the company based in, so the cost of the
call per minute is always different from a country to another, as well as from a network
service provider to another. Even if it is a phone or a broadband router, the network
mobile service origination includes the cost of initiating the call or the data request and
for connecting the requester device terminal with the core network (Falch, 2012). The
cost of IMR services is calculated according to the partnership agreement between the
companies, country tax law; moreover, the difference between the currencies affects the
bill cost greatly. “Regulation of international roaming is more complicated than regulation
of other telecom services” (Falch, 2012). Mainly the market structures on the mobile
telecom industry markets are different than on markets for fixed services. Because of the
different regulations and culture as an example in Saudi Arabia, you must be over 18
years old to be able to own a broadband router or a cell phone line, however the
demand on service still high. On the website of the ITU the United Nations specialized
agency the roaming price was reported as the following -: "Over the last several years,
significant policy and regulatory actions have tackled the problem of high International
Mobile Roaming (IMR) service prices at national, regional and international level" (ITU,
2015).In order to avoid the usage of the IMR in the visited country, the new system will
run using VOIP on one of the smartphone mobile application.
2.3. What is VOIP?
The VOIP refers to the process of transporting the voice packets over the internet
protocol (IP) Networks. (Rittinghouse, 2005). Despite having been around for several
years, VOIP continues to grow at a rapid rate; right now it is the most online meeting
tool for any multinational company, the VOIP internet Meeting became the main tool
for all of the Universities that offer online studies.

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"Since its invention, VoIP has grown exponentially, from a small-scale lab-based
application to today’s global tool with applications in most areas of business" (Sun, et
al., 2013). VoIP telephone services are provided by carriers and carriage service
providers (CSPs) that use telecommunications networks (for example ADSL, cable TV,
and broadband wireless) to supply communications services to the public (ACMA, 2016)
ACMA (2016) also explain that VOIP service is divided into three different types covering
some critical business area:
1. Computer to computer: An installed client software to an installed client on
another computer usually that client called soft phone, this type of calls is old it
was presented by Yahoo, in that time period Microsoft MSN and Yahoo
messengers were the most popular VOIP software.
2. Computer to phone: An Installed software on computer communicates with a
phone inside or in another country using the internet service and connected to an
application server using client software or a web-page, this is common in the off
sure call centres services. There are a lot of software companies that offers this
type of service for individuals such as net2phone, 3cx, Amayo and Skype. The
cost of the phone calls using these types of VOIP service is very low compared
to the GSM network international calls but it require that the caller must be using
a computer, laptop or a smartphone to be able to use the client software and
issue the call, however, the calls will also show no number or caller ID for the
end-user, On the guardian newspaper there is an article about the price of the
international phone calls using this type of VOIP service, which commented: “I
have hardly spent a penny. I know this because on my new Skype telephone you
get to see how little you pay for phone calls in a permanent panel on your
computer”. (Grinder, 2006)
3. Telephone to Telephone: A phone is communicating with another phone using
the internet under a call manager system, there are many companies are
specialized in this type of solutions such as Cisco, Nortel, Avaya. However; IP
telephony mainly runs on RJ 45 is a telephone set that is designed especially to
use VOIP protocol and can be bulged to the computer network switches, this
type of phones is using a specific type of systems that can convert the telephone
audio signal into a digital network packets that can be transmitted on the internet
to the other dialled phone. This type of telephone works without involving the
computer in the call cycle, however; the price of such phones can be expensive.
2.4. The Operating System Solution
There are several of operating systems that support VOIP protocol the different
versions of Microsoft Windows server, the various distributions of Linux. However; to
choose an operating system for an enterprise solution, several key factors must be
discussed:
1- The System stability
2- The Security
3- The Price

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4- The Support
5- The Compatibility
The following brief sections will discuss some notable operating systems that support
VOIP, along with their advantages and disadvantages.
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
The 2012 version of Microsoft windows server includes all the functions of the
previous versions of the product, the system stability is very good also the windows
server is a common operating system so it will be easy to find a system administrator,
Microsoft offers 24/7 support for all the products, however; since it is based on the same
root engine of the Microsoft operating system personal computer that rises a concern
about the security the computer viruses that affect the client pcs may also affect the
server, moreover all the Microsoft products are not free, there are no free VOIP software
sources on windows that means there must be another third party product which
requires an extra cost. due to the cost and security, Microsoft windows server cannot be
chosen as the solution operating system.
Linux
There are several of Linux distributions that support VOIP, some of which are free and
some not. Below are some of the key versions:
Linux Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a free version of Linux based on Debian distribution it contains huge free
software library since Ubuntu is a part of the Linux open-source family Ubuntu users can
use most of the open source software packages (Krawetz, 2010). Ubuntu kernel now it is
in its 11th iteration, Ubuntu distribution is powerful, secure, and stable operating system.
(Accountants, 2011) Ubuntu uses GNU Network Object Model Environment, it contains a
very nice desktop interface that makes it a real end-user friendly for a big range of
people even for non-Linux users, the enterprise version of Ubuntu for servers is very
stable, since Ubuntu is running on a Linux root engine that means the personal
computer viruses cannot affect the server, the compatibility with VOIP Ubuntu is
supporting Asterisk.
The disadvantages of Ubuntu include:
1- Ubuntu is based on Debian distribution which may be uncomfortable as core
engine for some admins who is used to work on RedHat.
2- Ubuntu’s release cycle is very fast compared to other Linux distributions.
3- There is no formal support for Ubuntu, the support will be based on the
community forum.

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Linux Centos
The Community Enterprise Operating System shortly called CentOS, CentOS is one of
the enterprise Linux distributions. CentOS was developed by the Project community
based on the same source code of the (RHEL) Redhat Enterprise Linux. CentOS was
created to have a free alternative distribution to RHEL Enterprise Linux, Centos was
developed to have a stable distribution that can be used as a commercial server
operating system and meet the requirements of the enterprises’ solutions. But why might
Centos represent a potentially good solution for VOIP? Centos is a good choice as the
back-end operating system of the solution for some factors:
1- Many computer viruses do not affect the Linux operating system.
2- Linux CentOS is distributed freely.
3- Centos is a stable version of Linux
4- Centos was build using the same roots of REDHAT enterprise Linux.
5- CentOS is compatible with the Asterisk VOIP solution
6- Centos Community is very active and they offer free support.
Since its invention, CentOS operating system is continuously being updated by the
development team and users in the wider community. They make security and software
updates every now and then, moreover; they offer quality assurance measures to
maintain the stability of the distribution. All CentOS packages are placed on the
distributed mirror to allow everyone in the community to download and install the
required software on their own system. Based on the core developers and the
community, CentOS is able to have a constant release upgrade schedule. The
community member is increasing day by day, that means the system will be better after
each upgrade (Baclit, et al., 2009). The operation and functionality of VOIP were tested
and confirmed on Linux, while the framework for VoIP speech data generation should
have components for automatic initiation and reception. Moreover the option of recording
which is very important for some industries like call centres. In addition, it should have a
component for introducing network packet losses in a controlled manner. The first is
achieved by using Asterisk.by placing a structured file called a call-file in an appropriate
directory (Chowdhury, et al., 2011).
Asterisk
Asterisk is one of the open source software that can run on various desktop versions
of Linux to implement software call managers based on the IP-PBX system and support
a various of Voice over IP protocols. Why Asterisk? The Asterisk is almost supporting all
the VOIP protocols such as SIP, H.323, MGCP, and SCCP. Moreover; Asterisk can be
connected to the regular computer IP network and also can be connected with the
existent PSTN telephone networks via analog/digital interfaces (Iseki, et al., 2011).

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2.5. The New Solution Idea
2.5.1. TheServer Tier
The call manager server (the server tier): The call manager server takes the required
actions to map the calls to the mobile Application-Tier using the registered user
credentials worldwide. The Server Operating system: Linux CentOS is likely the best
solution for a number of key reasons:
1. Linux CentOS was tested ok for the Asterisk solutions as the back-end.
2. Linux CentOS is a stable version of Linux and have a long release cycle.
3. The security on Linux CentOS is very high.
4. A software Cluster can be created simply on the Linux CentOS OS level.
5. The distribution of CentOS is free of charge.
6. CentOS is running on the same root of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The Bridge Device: The idea here is to create a new device that can communicate with
local network towers using the mobile SIM card and divert the calls directly over the
VOIP protocol to the server tier.
Figure 1 below shows the call cycle on the proposed solution.
1. The call will come to the PSTN Tower
2. The Bridge device will divert the call to the Asterisk Server
3. The Asterisk will divert the call to the mobile application according to credentials

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Figure 1 Proposed Call Cycle Solution
This solution will be based on the Asterisk SIP, which is the most basic signalling
protocol to perform a call processing in Asterisk and RTP/RTCP. The Asterisk engine
mainly matches incoming calls to the log in IDS on network based on the login
credentials login-name without the computer domain name. However, if the Asterisk
engine is unable to find the login id that matches the incoming call, the call will be
dropped on the network. In the case of the mobile application all the registered
customers will be having a unique log in id on the mobile application tier, the Asterisk
engine will match the call to the log in name and the Cell phone SIM card details on the
bridge device, however, the Asterisk will act as SIP server and the mobile application
tear will require the development of a SIP client to complete the call cycle. Moreover, a
database engine is required to be installed to host the customers' credentials since the
system will be running on the Linux centos, the MariaDB will be a free engine to use. But
what is MariaDB? MariaDB is the alternative of MySQL database on the Linux CentOS
distribution. But why would this database engine be a particularly effective solution?
MySQL and MariaDB are free open-source database engines that runs on the Linux
different distributions, CentOs7 prefers the MariaDB whenever the yum repository to
install MySQL (yum install MySQL) CentOS7 server will directly pull the software library
of the MariaDB, the installation of the MariaDB will log-in as Linux Root user, the
administrator of the operating system, the user with the highest privileges ever on the

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environment, after the log-in authentications, to avoid any miss use or damage that
could happen due of the usage of the root user, the best practice is to create a Database
administrator user that can be shared with the responsible person for the database,
create a user on the Linux using the root user terminal. The password should naturally
be one that is sufficiently complex, following the creation of a new user, and the
assignment of system privileges to allow the user to perform the required activities.
Since the CnetOS7 installation needs to use the sudo command, the DBA user must be
added to the wheel group. The next step in order to secure the server is to add public
key authentication for the user, setting a public key will increase the
security while using the SSH connection, After finishing it is mandatory to copy the key
to the server this step can be done using different activities the easiest way is to use
ssh-copy-id to be able to do it is a must to install the ssh-copy-id script on the local
machine after that the public key can be passed to the users with access to the server
ssh-copy-id DBA@Host_IP_ADDRESS After providing the root password, the public key
will be added to the remote user's .ssh/authorized_keys The key now is usable for the
log-in activates to the server.
The database engine installation, log in using the DBA user terminal, test the internet
connection, keep an eye on the installation process and server behaviour then start the
demon, the CentOS7 does not show the status of the DB engine so to be sure that the
DB engine is up using the command line, the output must be up and running. After
ensuring the installation of the Database engine and completing the installation of the
production environment, there is a need to install a web server that will operate as the
back-end to the mobile Application and also can act as a web host. The most common
web server on CentOS7 is the Apache 2.4 using the Yum will call the software library for
installation but for security reasons it is better to create another user on the operating
system level using the root terminal to be able to use the sudo command. It is common
for that user to be created under the name app and grant that user the access on the
web engine, after configuring the user. During the installation, the server must be
monitored carefully, after the installation of the engine software it is mandatory to modify
the web server configuration and parameter file (httpd.conf ) and map the application
core files. For monitoring the Wireshark program observes IP, UDP, and RTP headers.
Wireshark can compute VoIP statistical data like an end-to-end delay (Petr MATOUSEK,
2014 ).
To Add New User Using the root terminal $adduser DBA
#Passwd*****
To Add a User to the wheel group Using the root terminal gpasswd -a DBA
wheel.
How to create a public authentication key using the local machine terminal will issue
the command ssh-keygen
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key
(/Users/the local machine user

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name/.ssh/id_rsa):
Accept the file name and location or edit
and press enter; now a popup will appear
asking for passphrase to secure the public
key
To install the Maria Database sudo yum install mariadb-server
How to start the Maria Database demon sudo systemctl start mariadb
Check the Database Engine status sudo systemctl status mariadb
To Install the Appache TomCat Server sudo yum install httpd
Table 1-The Used Linux Command Line.
2.5.2. The Application Tier
What is the mobile application?
Mobile applications, also known as Apps, are a kind of software application built to run
on a mobile device’s operating system, such as tablets and mobile smartphones. Mobile
Apps provide end-users with similar services to software that are available on the regular
computers or laptops operating on Microsoft or Linux operating systems. Many mobile
Apps are small software packages with a specific function. As a technical note, apps can
commonly be found on apple, Android, Windows phones, and tablets. App pricing can
also range from free to hundreds of dollars per app (Brown, 2012). Using the Android or
Apple systems, a simple mobile application can be developed to allow the cell phones to
connect to the call manager server which will deal with the programmed rom on the
bridge device hosted at the home country.
The solution client application will require singling protocol SIP client that can be
developed using different open source library stacks, the PJSIP version 2.7.1 library will
be chosen, the library itself was built using C language to develop different VOIP support
signal protocols such as SIP, RTP, Moreover; the library combines the (SIP) protocol
with a huge library of multimedia frame work and NAT traversal functionality into high-
level API that is compatible and suitable for almost any type of operating systems
Microsoft Windows, Linux desktops, embedded systems, and all mobile systems like
android, Apple, and windows phones. The mobile application must be created on all the
available operating system environments Android, Apple, Windows phone to target the
most available consumers, the required mobile application is not complicated as it will be
based on SIP and VOIP. However; the cost of building the mobile application is not high.
2.5.3.The Bridge Device
This device will be built using the same concept of the MiFi routers the bridge device
will be designed to host a cell phone mobile SIM card, the built-in software can run under
Linux Ubuntu or embedded Linux as the operating environments, but embedded Linux
will be chosen for some points. But what is an embedded system? The embedded
solutions or systems is a device that has a computer hidden inside it, but the user does

26 | P a g e
not necessarily know, that the computer is there, as an example the computer inside the
car hood that is managing the engine and the different electric cycle of the car (Abbott,
2017). The Linux embedded kernel runs on the single board computers, moreover; the
kernel itself is more light compared to the desktop versions, the kernel works on the real
time to respond to an event, to do a specific function, the embedded Linux is able to
communicate with USB, TCPIP, Ethernet and VOIP. In the case of the bridge device the
rom program will be based on the c language as soon as the signal of call is received
the embedded Linux inside the device will send the call to the web server the server will
divert it to the end-user application using the internet signal. The LBOX 2840 computer
can be reprogrammed to be used as the bridge device using the same embedded Linux.
On the client side The solution requires a smartphone or tablet pc that supports the
different mobile application. The smartphone must have a free amount of memory that
can handle the G711 codec which is 64 Kbps per second during the call. Since the
application and server connection will be based on VOIP the main signal quality factor
will be the amount of bandwidth and internet connection stability, The Memory (RAM) of
the smartphone, The Smartphone must have enough free memory of 25 MB to handle
the call smoothly else the call will be affected badly and will face a voice delay while the
application on the voice capsulations packet creation phase.
2.6. The Advantages
The cost of building the solution: The bridge device is the hardware that will divert the
calls to the Call Manager Server; the cost of building this device is thus relatively cheap
and can be assembled simply on one of the L boxes computers that supports mobile sim
cards. The Call Manager Server can be installed on any hardware server that supports
the Linux CentOS operating system and does not require any special hardware but for
stability, a cluster of two server hardware machines should be created, moreover; in the
future the database engine can be moved to an external storage for better performance,
however, it will depend on the number of users and the amount of running concurrent
calls. Since the server will be running Asterisk on the Linux CentOS, the same Server
using the same installation will be able to do another useful function, the Asterisk Call
manager can be used as a soft-phone to make calls from a dialler that can be created
using a simple HTML web page, in this diagram the call cycle using the web server

27 | P a g e
dialler and computer soft phone .
Figure 2 –Call Cycle Solution Using the Web Dialler
"The VoIP system has a lot of advanced features, which makes the VoIP system the
best alternative of the traditional circuit network" (PalSingha, et al., 2014).
Flexibility: Since the solution will be depending on the VOIP Protocol There is no need
for any special installation for movement between countries. “VoIP call can originate
from or be sent to a mobile or landline device or a PC and may be routed through a
variety of networks" (Lingfen, et al., 2013).
The Running Cost: The telecommunications industry and its sub marketplaces show a
very high sensitivity to the initial and running costs. The low cost of the VoIP services will
continue to increase the interest of customers in VoIP (Verma & Wang, 2011). The
Running Cost of the VOIP protocol is very low compared to The Mobile GSM Networks,
the system will depend on a software call manager which almost does not have a real
running cost but the electricity bill and the system administrator salary in opposite the
PSTN network require a big team for maintenance and management. "Voice over
Internet Protocol (VOIP) has threatened to topple the telegraph poles of the leading
telecoms companies" (Reid, 2007).

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2.7. The Disadvantages
The solution will be fully depending on the Internet bandwidth available to the user,
and hence voice quality will be affected due to any packet loss, any connection delay will
affect the call badly. Security concerns are also a possible disadvantage since VOIP
uses the internet public network and hence remains unsecure, and can be hacked or
sniffed by other internet users. "VoIP systems, being primarily software-based, suffer
from all the usual vulnerabilities that plague other applications, such as buffer overflows
and application-level denial of service" (Angelos.D., 2011). The dependency on the
diverting device at the home country which will play the crucial role to complete the
connection cycle of the system.
2.8. Chapter Summary
According to Ling fen et al (2013) VOIP technology allows the voice to be diverted on
time over the internet to different networks and places, the phone calls can be diverted
over the VOIP from the different call devices even if it is cell phone, telephone device
or a computer and to be routed over different networks. Depending on previous studies
of different VOIP technologies, the CentOS7 and the Embedded Linux with its ability of
routing the international phone calls. There is a rich history of studies on VoIP and Linux
they can serve by working together toward the study goal: to minimize the running cost
of international mobile roaming calls. This chapter has synthesized the current state of
International mobile roaming and the effects in involving the VOIP in the international call
cycle. The literature chapter ends with implications, and recommendations for the
research on the technology part.

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Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter will critically examine different research processes, approaches, and
techniques, and specifically those that will be selected and used for the remainder of this
dissertation. This will include discussions on the way to data samples will be collected
and finding suitable samples from different countries around the globe to build better
vision including Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Serbia, Canada, and Egypt. The research
commenced by first identifying the research problem and research questions, as stated
in chapter 1.
Applied Versus Basic Research: This step involved finding the best solutions and
alternatives that can fit with the identified problem and thus to find answers to the
research questions defined for the study, which focus on the different mobile network
technologies and the operating system solutions that can provide the required
production environment on the servers. Applied research helped to make decisions
about:
1. Required Technologies
2. The hardware
3. The system design
4. The running cost of the current
5. Estimated cost in order to be able to compete
Applied research also helped in the collection of information about different markets and
consumers.
3.1. Research Design
After the proposal was approved at the first stage of the dissertation process, along with
the subsequent production of the initial chapters presented above, the next step required
the building of the research design. There are two general forms of research design,
namely nonexperimental in this step the researcher does not have the control or the
ability to change independent variables. These will serve as an important basis for the
research design, which allows for the study of existing situations, different variables, and
the interrelation among variables. The two major nonexperimental designs are field
studies such as face-to-face interviews and surveys allow for the collection of potentially
rich sample data. This will be combined with the literature review already presented in
chapter 2 towards an analysis of all collected data and eventually leading to informed
and justified conclusions (Sonya & Hil, 2012). In this study, the different options of the
mobile roaming against the new solution, perceptions, feelings and reactions of mobile
subscriber in different countries toward the new solution idea. The target population for
this research will include businessmen, international students, and expats in different
chosen countries. In particular, the sample population will need to be comprised of
people who are usually in need for the roaming services and international calls. A
stratified random sampling procedure will be used for selecting the participants for this
study.

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Random sampling is a sampling technique in which n distinct units are selected from the
N units in the population, where every possible combination on n = a part in the main the
target population. (Thompson., 2012). The basic idea of random sampling was
discussed by Little (2017), amongst others, in terms of a study on a performance
belongs to the University of Melbourne, where no survey can sample all of the instances
of some variable of interest. Instead, one can make an inference about the properties of
the population based on a smaller random representative sample (Little, 2017). Random
sampling is one of the sampling techniques of collecting data from the total number of
the target population. While using random sampling technique all members of the target
are under equal opportunity of being chosen as a part of the process. There are no
special actions while choosing the target sample. The random sampling is an unbiased
random sample, which is important for drawing final conclusions. This technique was
employed to ensure a fairly equal representation of the different resource variables for
the analysis. The stratification was based on different countries and different cultures.
Selection of suitable participants was made via simple random sampling which was
achieved by targeting and recording the nationality and location of participants of the
survey. The questionnaire was designed for the study subjected to a validation for the
new system technology acceptance by society, the current cost of calls compared to the
new running cost.
3.2. Data Sources
3.2.1. ThePrimary sources of data
The main source of data will be collected in the form of interviews or a survey
questionnaire, comprising of qualitative and quantitative primary data. The survey
strategy is to collect the data from a suitably wide sample, where a big volume of data
will help to gather enough information and evidence to build a solid strong conclusion.
Primary data will come in the form of roaming pricelists of the network providers in some
countries. In order to capture information on potential solutions to the problem of high
roaming and international calling costs, and the ability of any solution to be competitive
within the telecommunication market, data will be collected by visiting different providers
(in the form of shops that provide such services) and websites that offer the required
information relating to these aspects, such as pricelists, and the opinions of operators.
Another source of data was direct face-to-face interviews and distributing a printed
questionnaire to relevant persons. The questionnaire was used to collect the data in
more organised structure in Saudi Arabia, Serbia, The survey was used because it was
difficult to visit other countries. The idea of the survey was to capture participants’
responses to specific issues of roaming and international calling, and to make inferences
to a larger group or population (Yahng, 2017). Thus, in order for the survey to be
reliable, the sample must be well defined, and represented by participants from relevant
geographical and temporal locations that fit the goals of this research (Ploeg, et al.,
2002). During the survey design and the personal face-to-face interviews, document
preparation was important to set the target required data and how it will be collected.
There also some factors that took prominence, including:
1- The survey must be simple and short.

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2- Many people in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Serbia do not speak English.
3- Many expats who work in Saudi Arabia work for more than 10 hours so the
interview must be short.
The required data from the service provider were different than the data that should be
collected from the personal interviews and survey taken by the end-consumers, on the
shops the interview was based on some questions that can help to build the information
needed. What is the interview? The interview is a kind of conversation or a meeting
usually between two or more persons where one of them is the interviewer who is
seeking for a response from the other person who is the interviewee, an interview is held
for the purposes of assessments for employment, in our case, as a research interview to
obtain an information and understanding of the issue under the research project
(Gillham, 2000).
3.2.1.1. The Interview with the provider
Interviews were conducted using the questions specified below, where despite using
only three relatively simple questions, led to a large amount of data that could be used
for analysis. The three questions cover the required dimensions of the study on the
service provider's side.
Question The Target
1- What are the requirements to use
the roaming service?
This question will help to understand the
law in the country and when they may
allow the service for a foreigner.
2- What is the cost of using the
roaming service in different
countries?
This question will help to understand the
different running cost of the service in
different countries.
3- What do you think about the VOIP
technology?
VOIP service is being more common day
by day but still, in some regions, the
service is not available due to some legal
regulations, this question will help to
understand the legal side of the service in
the different sampled countries.
Table 2-Provider Interview questionnaire
The three questions support each other to derive suitable data on the economic value of
the solution against the pricelist of the mobile roaming, and the legality of using the
solution devices in the different sample countries.

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3.2.1.2. Interviewswithconsumers
The questions for interview were developed and comprised of 20 questions, while the
survey questionnaire was divided into two sections: the first section covers personal
information of the candidate; the second covers the required data concerning issues of
telecoms and services. The questionnaire was used as printed document to be shared
with people in Saudi Arabia, Serbia. However, to achieve all the required target samples
another online version was designed using the Google Docs service and shared online
with the available contacts in those countries. The contents of survey questionnaire are
comprised of the following:
Question The Target
Age This question was to collect the general
information of the candidate and the quality
of the collected data, all the data for any
candidate under 16 years old will be
ignored.
Sex Some researchers identified that women
are more talkative than men (Mehl, et al.,
2007)
Marital Status Usually when there is a family more phone
calls will be dialled
Number of Children More children will cause more calls
Where Do You Live? Usually if the candidate is living in a
different country than his home country
there will be more international calls.
What is your Nationality? The difference between this question and
the previous one will show that number of
expats around and will show the needs for
international calls between the expats and
their home country.
What is your Identification? This question will help to show better
understanding of the study
Occupation This will show the relation occupation will
show the different behaviour on the
roaming usage
Years Of Experience This will show the relation between the
work seniority and roaming .
Table 3-Questionnaire Section1

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How Much Do You Travela Year? This question will help to show the real
actual need forthe IMR service forevery
sampled region, whichwill be important for
the decision makers to choose the target
countries for marketing the solution.
How do youmake and receive formal calls
while youare abroad?
This will show the number of people who
are using the different solutions forformal
calls
How do youmake and receive personal calls
while youare abroad?
This will show the number of people who
are using the different solutions forPersonal
calls
How much do youPay for Mobile Roaming a
Year? IN $
This will show the real usage of roaming
Do YouUse Mobile Data While on
International Mobile Roaming?
This will help to understand the real cost of
roaming calls by excluding the data users in
the analysis
How satisfied are youwith the International
Mobile Roaming cost?
This will help to know the market thoughts
about the roaming cost
Have you ever used voice overIP (VOIP)
Application?
Just to know about the customer experience
and willhelp to get the customer acceptance
in the future
Are youopen to moveto a new International
Mobile Roaming solution witha fixed cost?
To collectthe count of people who are
willing to use the solution in some specific
country
Are youwilling to Invest 50$ as a fixed cost
for the new Solution?
This will help to view the different thoughts
about the solution running cost
Your Name (optional)
Please feel free to comment on any aspect
of mobile roaming and international calling
covered in this questionnaire
Table 4Questionnaire Section2
Section 1 of the questionnaire was used capture basic details of the participant, while
Section 2 focused on the factors that may affect the consumers themselves and the
demand power. The online survey was designed to collect the data in high quality
designed structure which will help in the future to build the required figures, The data
which was collected in the two different types of the interviews was collected in a Simi
structured format which will require more work to show the end results.
3.2.1.3. TheSampledata Size
The Provider's Interview

34 | P a g e
In Saudi Arabia, only one interview at Zein company was held using the questions
outlined above on capturing information about the company requirements to activate the
roaming service, pricelists, and the VoIP legality. Similarly in Serbia using the same
questionnaire one interview was held at VIP Company in the Nikola Tesla Airport, In
Switzerland also the data was collected from TalkTalk company in the Zurich subway.
The Personal interview
The sample in Saudi Arabia targeted persons from different areas: firstly Saudi citizens
who travel for vacation or work, the different expats in Dammam who works for the
different companies. The interviews were held in Shatee shopping mall, the random
sample was chosen to cover the different categories of the multicultural society in
Dammam. Another sample was the businessmen during their visit to the chamber of
commerce building.
The Sample in Serbia was different because of the different situation in Serbia the
population used to go abroad for work, the target sample was
1- The employees who work in the European Union.
2- The businessmen investing in the Serbian market.
3- The International students who are studying in Belgrade Universities.
The Sample in Switzerland
1- My colleagues in one of the banks in Zurich.
2- The International students in Zurich different Universities.
3- The businessmen in Zurich.
Since I was only present for a short time period in Zurich, attempts were also made in
asking colleagues to share the online survey with their friends in Switzerland so as to
increase the chances of obtaining a larger sample.
The samples in Egypt and Canada dependent on the online survey. Friends and family
were relied upon to share the online survey with more people using the social media.
The targeted samples are summarized in Table 5.
Country Business Men International
Students
Expats
Egypt 400 50 50
Serbia 100 50 50
Switzerland 50 50 50
Saudi Arabia 100 50 100
Canada 50 50 50
Total 700 250 300
Table 5-The Targeted Sample
In summary, multiple versions of the questionnaire were designed to address
respondents from different countries, although the content will remain largely
comparable in all versions. The questionnaire will capture information about the general

35 | P a g e
economy of the selected country, location of respondents, their age and sex. The
interviews will complement the survey by obtaining more detailed information about
pricelists of roaming and international calls, and to further examine people’s attitudes
about the use of the proposed solution.
3.2.2. TheSecondary Source of data
Secondary sources of data are represented by those that already exist and hence not
gathered first-hand by the researcher (Sekaran, 2017). In this study, secondary data
sources comprise many of articles and books related to the VOIP and Linux on the
internet and the libraries. Secondary data was very important to find the main required
data sources, and comprise of the following:
1. The solar library of the University of Salford
The library of the university was always the main secondary source of reference
and books during the research
2. The Times newspaper
Times newspaper database was used as reference in some articles related to the
VOIP technology during it first appears in 2000.
3. The website of the international monetary fund
The different indicators history on the database for the sample countries were
used to see the different dimensions of the economy in those countries, Table 6
shows the population count in the last 3 years.
Country Indicator Units Scale 2015 2016 2017 2018
Canada Populatio
n
Person
s
Million
s
35.8
2
36.2
3
36.6
4
37.00
3
Egypt Populatio
n
Person
s
Million
s
89 90.2
92.2
8
94.39
7
Saudi
Arabia
Populatio
n
Person
s
Million
s
31.0
2
31.7
4
32.3
8
33.02
5
Serbia Populatio
n
Person
s
Million
s
7.09
5
7.05
8
7.03 7.002
Swazilan
d
Populatio
n
Person
s
Million
s
1.11
9
1.13
2
1.14
7
1.162
Table 6-The Target Sample Economic Data
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2017 (IMF,
2018)
In case of unavailable data, Google search engine was used to locate additional
information for available data sources. Secondary data on aspects such as the political
situation the economic indicator will be analysed using the different spreadsheets and

36 | P a g e
graphs on the open-office system on Linux Ubuntu. This data will serve the primary data
to present a complete vision to decision makers.
3.3. Measures of selection
The main factor for data sampling was that of the chosen countries, which must be
different in terms of income, political views, and culture. In this study there is a need
determine the ability and willingness of users to move to the new proposed bridge device
solution. The following are the key countries that are sampled and the issues that are
expected with each
1-Switzerland: This being a well-developed country, and is one of the most stable
countries in the heart of Europe a member of the Schengen agreement but not a
member of the European Union. The currency is Swiss franc CHF, where one American
dollar = 0.94 CHF. The system of Switzerland is unique, the country is divided into
twenty three cantons, there is no main language, the south cantons like Lugano is
talking Italian, the capital Geneva is talking French, Zurich is talking German, The high
average of income allows the citizens to travel abroad for different reasons. Moreover,
the large numbers of expats working inside the country make it as a high expected
consumer of the solution.
2-Serbia: This country resides in Eastern Europe, located in the Balkan area. Serbia
was a part of the old Yugoslavia the country suffered from wars during the 1990s, the
economy of Serbia was affected badly during that time, Currently the country is staled
and it is getting ready to enter the European union by 2020, The currency of Serbia is
Dinara RSD, One American dollar =95.44 Serbian Dinara, Serbia is the poorest country
in Europe right now, but the country is getting better day-by-day, A lot of the Serbians
are working in the EU because of higher salaries there, The amount of international
students and investors inside Belgrade make Serbia one of the places with a high usage
of the roaming service, and hence the country could be a good opportunity for the
proposed solution.
3-Saudi Arabia: Situated in the Middle East, it is the largest oil exporter in the world.
The average of income is high compared to the other countries in the middle east, the
Saudi currency is Saudi Riyal SAR, One American dollar =3.8 Saudi Riyal, the Expats
inside Saudi Arabia is more than the citizens, so it will be rich of samples. The amount of
the daily international calls in Saudi Arabia is high compared to other countries because
of the large number of expats inside the country, Saudi citizens also usually travels
abroad for vacations and would potentially increase the demand for the solution.
4-Canada: is a very large country with a relatively small population. Canada is a
multicultural society the economy is going well, the country is stable with no political
issues the Canadian currency is dollar, one American dollar =1.26 Canadian dollar, a lot
of foreign students are studying inside Canada so it would seem to be a good
opportunity for the solution, as a researcher Canada was chosen cause of a strong
connection with some old colleagues.
5-Egypt: Another country situated in the Middle East, located in the north of Africa,
Egypt is suffering from an unstable system since 2011, the Egyptian currency is

37 | P a g e
Egyptian Pound EGP, One American dollar = 18 EGP, the country is unstable and the
economy is not going well since the last Military Coup. Egypt had 89 Million as
population, a lot of Egyptians are working abroad, a lot of students are studying abroad,
the country had a high demand on roaming which will be a good market.
3.3.4. DataAnalysisTechnique
The quantitative data was analysed by using the spreadsheet on open-office using Linux
Ubuntu. The findings were presented in different graphs and tables to show all the
required indicators. Qualitative data was manually coded to reduce the large amount of
data that was collected for the analysis phase, and both quantitative and qualitative data
were analysed under mixed methodologies to present the required indicators and give a
better vision to the policy makers.
The first step of the outdoor study was stuck while on the service provider interview
phase in Dammam Saudi Arabia, the Saudi employees refused to share any information
with me as a foreigner and they asked me to leave and back when the branch manager
is there. After numerous requests, I returned with my documents to meet the manager
who requested to see my Passport, residency ID and University enrolment documents
before permitting a meeting. After reviewed the documents and saw the research privacy
policy (refer to appendix 1), he accepted to attend the interview, but he asked to re-
create all forms again with an Arabic version. He also requested that his name be kept
secret, which was promised, following which he also permitted the collection of data. The
employees also cooperated and were all provided with the Research Participant
Consent Form to be used as an agreement between the employees and me (refer to
appendix2).
In terms of the personal interviews, many respondents asked for the reason for the
interview, and how the study may change the current aggressive communication roles in
Saudi Arabia all information was supplied before interviewees agreed to take part in full
The interviews were conducted in Dammam with those individuals specified above,
including business people in the chamber of commerce eastern provision, and some
colleagues in the IT department from the countries outlined above.
The service provider interviews phase in Serbia were different, People were more open
to talk, the same forms on appendex1 and appendix 2 were used in the branch. The
branch manager, Ms. Aleksic, gave all the information after reviewing the necessary
research documents and information sheet. Similarly, during the personal interviews,
respondents were open to talk about the current situation in Belgrade and the new
telecom regulation. In Serbia, I faced some issues related to the language whereby
many older respondents did not speak English.
I did not have the chance to travel to Egypt due to the situation there right now,
previously I was involved in some projects belongs to Vodafone Egypt. Contact was
made with my previous colleagues who helped in providing the required information,
such as prices and the legality of using VOIP then the rest of information was collected
from Egypt using the online survey.

38 | P a g e
In Switzerland, requests were made to my family in Zurich to provide data and to help
with distributing the online survey. The most recent roaming pricelist of TalkTalk
Company was obtained directly from the company’s website.
In Canada, the only possible way to capture data was via the online survey, since no
funds were available to travel there. The online survey was again sent to family in
Toronto they shared it with their friends. All other data related to Canada was collected
online from the providers’ official websites.
3.3.5. Limitationsof Methodology
It may be observed that the presented study was focused on some specific
countries; however the main idea was to look for the best available different samples to
build a solid conclusion, in Egypt, Canada Switzerland the research was mostly
depending on the online survey which is not enough for all the study dimensions, as an
international system solution it was a must to get variety of samples that is involved in
different situation. A further reflection on study weaknesses will be presented in the final
chapter.
3.4. Research Ethics and Issues
All ethical considerations must be an integral aspect of any particular study. The
permission for collecting data was of course a very important aspect, especially in a
country with restricted roles like Saudi Arabia. Personally, I faced some issues while
collecting the sample data using the personal interviews, the people were asking about
the study, and in order to gain the trust of respondents forms for privacy policy in
different languages, Arabic , English , Urdu and Serbian were created (see appendix 1,2
,3, 4 for samples). Also, the people who attended to the online survey the appendix
number 5 shows the online survey privacy policy for them. During the personal interview
the form on the appendix number 4 was shared in different languages with the people to
confirm the anonymity of the study. After sharing this document with the attendees they
accept to be a part of the study and they took the interviews seriously. During some
interviews in Belgrade with the family part there my nephew who works as tower field
engineer in Telekom Srbija Company, a discussion took place about the future of the
telecoms industry as how software call managers may eliminate the demand of the IMR
which will cause losses to the company as one of its main sources of income. These
issues will be taken into account where possible during the final analysis.
The questionnaire was developed in English but problems were experienced with people
in Saudi Arabia who cannot read or speak English, hence another version in Arabic was
produced (see appendix number 7). Similarly in Serbia and hence I was able to gain
assistance from Serbian friends in Belgrade to help translate the questionnaire (shown in
appendix 8).

39 | P a g e
Chapter 4: Analysis and Results
4.1. Introduction
This chapter presents the findings from the primary and secondary data using the
sources outlined in chapter 3. Quantitative data was collected via the survey and
interviews, which are presented in tables and graphs along with explanations of
supporting illustrations. The graphs and tables will attempt to answer the research
questions and create a vision towards building the final conclusions.
The Main Economic Indicators
Table 7 shows the data collected from the IMF database for the last three years and the
expectations of the current year 2018 . The main indicators like the gross domestic
product GDP shows that the economics of the sampled countries are different which
proof that the study covered the required economic dimension, to present the value of
the solution based on different average of income further the different count of
population and the unemployed rate of the labour force due to the different
circumstances of the sampled countries.
Country Indicator Units Scale 2015 2016 2017 2018
Canada
Gross domesticproduct, constant prices Percent change 0.942 1.468 3.036 2.119
Inflation, average consumer prices Percent change 1.132 1.409 1.603 1.788
Unemployment rate Percentof total labor force 6.9 7 6.475 6.266
Population Persons Millions 35.82 36.23 36.64 37.003
Current account balance Percent of GDP
-
3.401
-3.3 -3.39 -2.903
Egypt
Unemployment rate Percentof total labor force 12.86 12.7 12.22 11.462
Population Persons Millions 89 90.2 92.28 94.397
-
3.623
-5.97 -5.93 -3.75
Saudi
Arabia
Inflation, average consumer prices Percent change 2.189 3.51 -0.16 4.961
Unemployment rate Percentof total labor force 5.591 5.6 n/a n/a
Current account balance Percent of GDP -8.67 -4.26 0.637 0.397
Serbia
Gross domesticproduct, constant prices Percent change 0.758 2.779 3 3.5
Inflation, average consumer prices Percent change 1.392 1.122 3.37 3
Unemployment rate Percentof total labor force 18.2 15.91 16 15.644
-
4.711
-4.02 -4.03 -3.887

40 | P a g e
Canada
The GDP shows healthy values for the Canadian economy for the last three years, with
the exception of the current year which does not show the same growth amount for the
last time period although the economy is still demonstrating good results. The
unemployment rate is reducing which means more jobs in the market, the inflation
expectation is showing negative values but still the value is under control and
acceptable, the number of population is growing which means the country is accepting
more immigrants and higher birth rate against mortality rate which is good for a large
country with a relatively small population like Canada.
Politically: Canada is running a stable democratic federal system, the country is one of
the immigrants target, because of the jobs availability and better life opportunities.
The Provider interview analyses
Unfortunately, no funds were available to visit Canada to conduct face-to-face interviews
with the provider or random sampling; all the Canadian data were hence collected via
websites from the various providers. Brief opinions were also collected via a
convenience sample of family members located in that country, who were asked:
1- What are the requirements to use the roaming service?
The service is available for everyone in Canada all you need is to choose the suitable
roaming plan for your budget and activate it.
2- What is the cost of using the roaming service in different countries?
Table 8 shows the pricelist of one of the roaming plans for the Bell telecom company the
prices are in Canadian dollars, the price is per day for roaming with unlimited calls and
data connection.
Swaziland
Gross domesticproduct, constant prices Percent change 1.099 -0.01 0.251 -0.908
Unemployment rate Percentof total labor force
Current account balance Percent of GDP 10.83 0.679 -1.1 0.242
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database,
October 2017 (IMF, 2018)
Table 7: The Target Sample Economic Data

An Evaluation of Diverting Mobile Calls via VoIP While Traveling Abroad: The Case of a Custom-Developed Solution

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