The impact of different fibre access network technologies on cost,competition and welfare

Using a novel approach to the evaluation of new network technologies that combines an engineering cost model with a differentiated multi-player oligopoly model with wholesale access regulation this article evaluates the choice among different Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) architectures. The cost modelling relies upon an engineering bottom-up approach that feeds into a competition model. For addressing competition the pyramid model was chosen, which is an extension of the Hotelling model to multiple firms/services. The paper solves for price setting Nash equilibria between an incumbent, wholesale-access-based entrants and cable as an additional fully integrated network competitor. Welfare tradeoffs are highlighted with respect to cost differences and QoS differences between the various FTTH architectures and between the modes of regulation. According to the analysis architectures that can be unbundled (and that allow for greater speeds) outperform, from a social welfare perspective, architectures that (realistically) allow only for bitstream access.     

“银期通系统”的设计及实现

“银期通系统”是指期民和期货经纪公司通过银行实现银行卡和期货资金账户之间资金实时划转、存折炒期货的中间业务平台,介绍了该系统的设计、系统结构所需软硬件配置、主要功能模块,并对关键技术前端应答模块、冲正模块等进行了详细说明。     

Mobile number portability in Europe

This paper examines the causes and effects of mobile number portability (MNP) and provides a survey of its implementation in Europe. It first examines the competitive effects and costs of introducing MNP. Next, it discusses how to charge for MNP. It argues that a price cap regime starting from the average cost of porting is likely to provide appropriate incentives. Finally, it reviews recent experience with implementing MNP in Europe. Differences in the speed of porting and porting charges appear to explain part of the differences in the use of MNP across countries.     

Roaming in the Mobile Internet

With the acquisition of UMTS licenses Mobile Operators (MOs), have often been obliged to deploy 3G network infrastructures covering at least a given percentage of users by a given date. This paper discusses the rationale for imposing these minimum coverage requirements by regulatory bodies. To that end, a model is built, which studies the incentives for MOs to compete for market share and over coverage within an unregulated environment where MOs are assumed to be free to enter sharing agreements and to negotiate a reciprocal roaming charge. Within this framework, it is first shown that MOs would deploy their infrastructure to guarantee the coverage of the entire territory (population), but they would avoid any network duplication in order to maximize rents from roaming revenues. It is then discussed whether a minimum coverage requirement is the best policy to reduce these excess rents, or whether alternative measures could be adopted which could serve other goals as well, such as the avoidance of network duplication.     

Business ecosystem strategies of mobile network operators in the 3G era: The case of China Mobile

In order to define the mobile network operators' strategies of building value network in the 3G era, this paper applies the ecosystem principles to the mobile industry through a China Mobile case study. Based on an analytical framework of such principles, this paper reviews China Mobile's ecosystem, and identifies its success factors and problems. The results indicate that a complete ecosystem, where mobile network operators collaborate closely with value-added service providers, content/application providers, equipment and device manufacturers, and other involved organizations, can promote the development of mobile data services substantially. Therefore, mobile network operators should play a central role in the ecosystem by managing the entire value-chain and setting up proper value-sharing mechanisms. However, while doing so, problems may arise because of regulatory issues and information asymmetry. High-value common assets, a centralized management system, partner selection schemes and continuous innovations are important success factors.     

A welfare measure of consumer vulnerability to rising prices of food imports in the UAE

The recent and expected continuing rise in food prices has re-ignited concern and discussion in the United Arab Emirates about the country’s vulnerability to food supply shocks. Defining vulnerability as the compensating variation relative to household income, we find that although UAE households in the lowest income quintile spend on food on average less than a quarter of what households in the highest income quintile spend, the former are 3.5 times more vulnerable to rising prices of food imports than the latter.     

Monopoly, competition and information acquisition

An incumbent monopolist is uncertain about its linear demand, but can acquire public information at a cost. We determine how an entry threat affects the firm's information acquisition. If returns to scale are constant and the state-contingent demands become more dispersed as output increases, then entry reduces information acquisition. If, however, either the incumbent or entrant has increasing returns; or if the state-contingent demands are nonlinear or fail increasing dispersion, then entry can increase information. Finally, entry can hurt consumers. Although entry always increases output, it can decrease information. Consumers sometimes prefer a better informed monopoly to a duopoly.     

Mobile voice diffusion and service competition: A system dynamic analysis of regulatory policy

Dynamic behavior in mobile telecommunications markets is often the result of interactions between market actors. As the structure and dynamic complexity of such interactions tend to be difficult to identify, it is challenging for regulators to anticipate the effects of their policy decisions. This article uses system dynamics to evaluate the effect of technology harmonization and mobile number portability policies on mobile voice diffusion and service competition. This is realized by first modeling the endogenous feedback structure resulting in dynamic behavior in the mobile telecommunications market and then by configuring the model for retrospective simulations of the Finnish market. Based on the retrospective simulations, the effect of technology harmonization and mobile number portability policy decisions is analyzed and the usefulness of system dynamics is demonstrated.     

Reducing the level of switching costs in mobile communications: The case of Mobile Number Portability

Switching costs are one of the most important economic forces that affect market competition in mobile communications. Both theoretical and empirical studies have shown that switching costs reduce market competition leading to higher prices, lower product and service quality, and lower customer welfare. Given their negative consequences, national regulatory authorities have designed policies aimed at reducing switching costs and fostering competition. One of the most important of these, in the mobile communications industry, is mobile number portability (MNP). The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of MNP on switching costs in mobile phone services. First, a hierarchical Bayes model is proposed to measure switching costs at the customer level and to investigate the impact of MNP on them. Second, this study examines the drivers of MNP adoption by customers using a binary logit specification. The results reveal that this regulatory policy has significantly reduced the cost of switching and that MNP adoption partially depends on customer-related variables.     

Ownership structure, family leadership, and performance of affiliate firms in large family business groups

Utilizing the agency viewpoint, this research attempts to shed light on the issue of family leadership by examining ethnic Chinese family business groups in Taiwan. The study examines the performance implications of this kind of leadership under the ownership structure concern. The research results indicate that the ownership structure of the affiliate firm influences the likelihood that family leadership will be used. Specifically, if the founding family owns more direct ownership of the affiliate firm, the family will be likely to appoint a family leader at the affiliate firm. However, when the founding family has a greater degree of pyramidal ownership of an affiliate firm, family leadership will be less likely at that affiliate firm. Additionally, family leadership mediates the relationship between ownership structure and affiliate firm performance in a family business group. Family leadership positively affects the effect of direct family ownership on affiliate firm performance but does not significantly affect the negative relationship between pyramidal ownership and affiliate firm performance. The implications of these findings for future research on leadership in family business groups are discussed.     

Mobile technology usage and B2B market performance under mandatory adoption

This paper investigates the relationship between mandatory adoption of mobile information technology and market performance in the business-to-business (B2B) setting. This study presents and tests the B2B technology satisfaction model (TSM), including perceived loss of control as the mandatory technology acceptance-specific variable. The results of this study reveal that integrating perceived loss of control with user satisfaction and the TAM (technology acceptance model) in a single model can better explain the B2B market performance model. The empirical results suggest that perceived loss of control has a negative effect on user satisfaction and perceived market performance is influenced by user satisfaction and perceived usefulness. Managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

Local impacts of a global crisis: Food price transmission,consumer welfare and poverty in Ghana

This paper takes a local perspective on global food price shocks by analyzing food price transmission between regional markets in Ghana. It also assesses the impacts of food price increases on various household groups. Taking the 2007–2008 global food crisis as an example, we show that prices for domestic grain products are highly correlated with world market prices. This is true both for products for which Ghana is highly import-dependent (e.g., rice) and the products for which Ghana is self-sufficient (e.g., maize). The econometric results also show that price transmission is high between regional producer markets and markets located in the country’s largest cities, and the distance between producer and consumer markets and the size of consumer markets matter in explaining the price transmission. The welfare analysis for households as consumers shows that the effect of world food prices appears relatively modest for the country as a whole due to relatively diverse consumption patterns within country. However, the national average hides important regional differences, both between regions and within different income groups. We find that the poorest of the poor—particularly those living in the urban areas—are hardest hit by high food prices. The negative effect of the food crisis is particularly strong in northern Ghana. The main explanations for this regional variation in the price effect is the different consumption patterns and much lower per capita income levels in the North of Ghana compared to other regions in the country.     

Serving the poor: Multisided mobile service platforms,openness, competition,collaboration and the struggle for leadership

Four billion people at the base of the economic pyramid live on incomes below $3000 a year in local purchasing power, and more often than not, lack consistent access to services, such as water, healthcare, banking or agricultural know-how. Rapid advances in mobile technology offer the potential to mediate access to essential services. Through this research, the answers to the following question were explored: will mobile service platforms bridge the gap between service providers and people living at the base of the pyramid in developing countries? Anchored in interviews with 31 experts in the field of mobile and ICT, qualitative analysis starting from platform leadership to explain the role of mobile service platforms is presented: how operator, device and service provider centric platforms compete, collaborate and open up (or not) for delivering scalable services to the poor. Based on the analysis in this paper, it is portended that although operator centric platforms are in pole position, device centric platform providers, being astute innovators, are positioned to close the lead by presenting alternatives to bridge the gap in developing countries. This paper frames the current debate on M4D through the lens of platform theory, and aims to provide guidance to policy makers to improve access to services for the poor.     

Community response grids: E-government, social networks, and effective emergency management

This paper explores the concept of developing community response grids (CRGs) for community emergency response and the policy implications of such a system. CRGs make use of the Internet and mobile communication devices, allowing residents and responders to share information, communicate, and coordinate activities in response to a major disaster. This paper explores the viability of using mobile communication technologies and the Web, including e-government, to develop response systems that would aid communities before, during, and after a major disaster, providing channels for contacting residents and responders, uploading information, distributing information, coordinating the responses of social networks, and facilitating resident-to-resident assistance. Drawing upon research from computer science, information studies, public policy, emergency management, and several other disciplines, the paper elaborates on the concept of and need for CRGs, examines related current efforts that can inform the development of CRGs, discusses how research about community networks can be used to instill trust and social capital in CRGs, and examines the issues of public policy, telecommunications, and e-government related to such a system.     

Link between termination rates and retail prices in Namibia,Kenya and South Africa

This paper analyses the link between mobile termination rate reductions and retail prices. It draws on in-depth case studies of South Africa, Namibia and Kenya where regulators have reduced termination rates towards the cost of an efficient operator. To varying degrees these have all led to lower retail prices and significant market expansion. While retail prices in both Namibia and Kenya dropped following substantial termination rate reductions, the South African case demonstrates that termination rate reductions are not always passed on to consumers as is hoped by such regulatory interventions. In South Africa, it was only after the second reduction in March 2012 that smaller operators were able to reduce their off-net prices to a level that could tempt the subscribers to dominant operators to switch. All the case studies confirm nevertheless that retail prices do not go up in response to termination rates going down as contended by dominant mobile operators around the world. This is in contrast to a body of literature stating that termination rates and mobile retail prices constitute a two-sided market and that termination rate reductions will lead to a so-called “waterbed effect”.     

Targeting and distribution in complex emergencies: Participatory management of humanitarian food assistance

The extensive literature on community participation in the targeting and management of humanitarian food assistance suggests that participatory approaches work best in slow-onset emergencies with no conflict or displacement. Yet the policies of many agencies—and compliance with Sphere minimum standards—require that the recipient community participate in decisions about the assistance they receive including targeting, regardless of the causes of the emergency. This paper analyzes current practice in the targeting and management of humanitarian food assistance in complex emergencies, the constraints to recipient communities’ participation, and the possibilities for participatory approaches to improve targeting.     

Fixed and mobile competition in transition economies

The main aim of this paper is to explore the competition between traditional fixed line and mobile services across Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Whilst there have been some pioneer studies in the US, empirical evidence for other regions is very limited. Transition countries witnessed important trends in the mobile segment of the market. First, mobile penetration rates have been growing at exponential rates, whereas fixed line penetration rates have at best stagnated. The present analysis is based on empirical evidence based on country level data and case studies, as well as enterprise level data based on major surveys that the EBRD and the World Bank undertook in 2002 across all transition economies. Econometric analysis at the enterprise level shows some interesting results, including evidence of strong network externalities and fixed to mobile substitution effects at the country level.     

Roaming and investments in the mobile internet market

This model discusses mobile network operators' (MNOs) incentives to invest in their network facilities such as new 4G networks under various regimes of data roaming charge regulation. Given an induced externality of investments (spillovers) due to the roaming agreements it will be shown that MNOs, competing on investments, widely set higher investments for below cost regulation of roaming charges. Otherwise, if MNOs are free to collaborate on investments, they set higher investment levels for above cost roaming charges. Both below and above cost charges may be preferred from a welfare perspective. Furthermore, the paper discusses effects of the roaming charge regulation on roaming quality and MNOs' coverage.