During the recent years, we have observed a significant growth in offers, varieties, and uses of network-based services. This was amongst others enabled by a growing multitude of access networks combined with usage-friendly pricing schemes. However, the conditions for providing this access vary between, and also within, regions of this planet. As a consequence, potential users become victims of the "Digital Divide", therefore being excluded from beneficial use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) services. Consequently, socio-economic-technical aspects and scenarios need to be researched in order to reduce the "Digital Divide".Research within ICT is still quite technology oriented, and often neglects the important window towards the end user who wants to "get the most out of it" when using and paying for services. In particular, in this special issue, we address Quality of Experience (QoE) on one side andmostly economical-terms of use on the other side. If a user does not feel that (s)he is getting "value for money", i.e., good-enough QoE for what (s)he is paying for, (s)he might be ready to abandon the particular service provider and/or network operator in question. We are thus facing a quality-and economy-related type of "Digital Divide". Obviously, quality and economy form important enablers for successful service provisioning, which require a careful investigation and evaluation of behaviors, conditions, and capabilities at the border between user and technology.In this context, the notion and topic of QoE increasingly attracts the attention of manufacturers, operators, and researchers. It links user perception and expectations on one side and technical Quality of Service parameters, management, pricing schemes, etc., on the other side. Such links are needed in order to balance user satisfaction and economic aspects of service provisioning. However, the notion of QoE as such is not without controversy. Technicians, used to a world of objective and clearly definable parameters, tend to fear the subjective, somehow fuzzy parts associated with end-user perception. Vice versa, customer relationship and marketing departments might find themselves uncomfortable with technical parameters which might not reflect the user perception in some tense situations. Nevertheless, appearance and utility of a networked service depend on the underlying technical solutions and their performance. Furthermore, legal and pricing issues need to be addressed, which also implies resource trading and dimensioning.