As third-generation (mobile) networks (3G networks) become a commercial reality, strong movements are emerging in the direction of a common infrastructure based on the Internet protocol (IP). The users' mobile devices are like another IP host connected to the Internet. In such a scenario, the network operator infrastructure is degraded to bit pipes. To avoid this, the 3G partnership project (3GPP) and ETSI TISPAN have designed IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), a service platform that aims to place the network operator again in the central role of service provisioning. In this article we examine IMS from a mobile operator's perspective and analyse its possible adaptation to the next-generation networks

Significance: We present the Facebook Gender Divide, an inexpensive, real-time instrument for measuring gender differences in Facebook access and activity in 217 countries. The Facebook Gender Divide captures standard indicators of Internet penetration and gender equality indices in education, health, and economic opportunity. We find that the tendency of countries to approach economic gender equality is negatively associated with a high Facebook Gender Divide. Our results suggest that online social networks, while suffering gender imbalance, may lower information access barriers for women and narrow the economic gender gap.