Demand estimation and market definition for broadband Internet services

This paper analyses residential demand for Internet access in Austria with a focus on broadband Internet connections. Austria has cable network coverage of about 50% and is, therefore, a good candidate to analyse the elasticity of demand for DSL where cable is available and where it is not. We also include mobile broadband via UMTS or HSDPA in our analysis and estimate various nested logit models to derive conclusions for market definition. The estimation results suggest that demand for DSL is elastic and that cable networks are likely to be in the same market as DSL connections both at the retail and at the wholesale level. We discuss possible implications for the regulation of wholesale broadband access markets. All views expressed are solely the authors’ and do not bind RTR or the Telekom-Control-Kommission (TKK) in any way nor are they official position of RTR or TKK.     

Information infrastructure: Who builds broadband networks?

This paper examines the essential difference between the U.S. and Japan, when one considers information infrastructure. There are seven perception gaps between the U.S. and Japan concerning Information Infrastructure policies. These gaps must be understood in order to compare the countries' governmental policies in this area. In looking at the present circumstances, the essential question to answer concerns who is to build, own and operate the network(s) of the infrastructure. Liberalization is certain to be a central factor in the ongoing telecommunications debates. Now that customers have had a taste of the liberalized market-place, the movement toward more open markets will be difficult to stop. When considering options, it is necessary to pay close attention to standardized network access and the increasingly important role software plays. These issues are causing us to take a new approach to the traditional role played by regulators. They also force a closer look at the appropriate structure of utility companies. This paper addresses the above issues in hopes of stimulating dialog on the new telecommunications infrastructure paradigm.     

Competition enhancing regulation and diffusion of innovation: the case of broadband networks

Regulating former telecommunications monopolies has often been legally and technically complex. Among other options, incumbent operators were mandated to share, sell or split their infrastructure thus encouraging market entry. Given the importance of broadband technologies, competitive access has become a policy priority. We use data from 167 broadband markets over a period of 11 years. Firm and intra-platform competition on the incumbent’s legacy network (Digital Subscriber Line) accelerate adoption of broadband, whereas competition over different access technologies does not. The duration of the different regulatory effects shows that simpler network changes have a long-lasting yet delayed effect compared to technically demanding ones.     

Evidence of a modest price decline in US broadband services

In this paper, we construct a consumer price index for broadband services in the United States using over 1500 service contracts offered by DSL and cable providers from 2004 through 2009. This exercise frames a range of open questions about measuring price changes in a manner that informs policy discussions about US broadband services. We employ approaches used commonly for constructing a consumer price index by using a mix of matched-model methods and hedonic price index estimations to adjust for qualitative improvements. We find a quality-adjusted price decline, but the evidence points towards a modest decline at most. Our estimates of the price decline range from 3% to 10% in quality-adjusted terms for the 5-years period, which is faster than the BLS estimates for the last 3 years. In contrast to other innovative industries that experience rapid price declines, such as computers or integrated circuits, the modest price decline for broadband services raises many questions.     

Residential demand estimation for bundled fixed-line and wireless mobile broadband services

This article is the first investigation of residential Internet markets in Thailand, in particular Bangkok. Bangkok is an interesting market to study as it is Thailand’s most populous province, and supports an advanced economy. The study offers a comprehensive discussion of the process to obtain cross-price elasticity estimates when Internet services are bundled. Interestingly, the empirical results reveal positive cross-price effects, i.e. Internet alternatives are viewed as substitutes by respondents in this market. This finding is plausible as the services differ essentially in their model of delivery.     

On selecting a technology evolution path for broadband access networks

The rapid growth in the number of Internet users has accelerated the use of high-speed Internet access services, including broadband multimedia services. In the delivery of broadband multimedia services to end-users, it is necessary to build a high-speed backbone and access network. To construct a broadband access network, several alternative technologies including xDSL, CATV, and FTTx have been suggested and implemented in telecommunication networks. However, even if a technology is proven to be optimal for the current environment, it can be deteriorated by the elapse of time or the advent of new challenging technologies in the future. In this article, we concentrate on the selection of an evolution path for broadband access networks. We developed an optimization model for selecting the best technology and evolution path with the minimum total cost. The problem can be formulated as a mixed integer programming model. With a scenario for demands and cost factors, we find the optimal evolution path by solving our model with the CPLEX program and illustrate some sample paths for the broadband access network evolution plan. Once the cost and the demand are defined in detail to reflect the real-world case, our model can be useful to generate a practical technology evolution plan for broadband access networks in real-world applications.     

ICT services and small businesses’ productivity gains: An analysis of the adoption of broadband Internet technology

We analyse the impact of the adoption of broadband Internet technology on the productivity performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). We distinguish access to the broadband infrastructure from the adoption of complementary services, i.e., different types of broadband software applications. The empirical analysis considers a sample of 799 firms observed from 1998 to 2004 that are representative of the population of Italian SMEs. Our econometric estimates indicate that the impact of the adoption by SMEs of basic broadband applications is negligible (or even negative). Conversely, SMEs are found to benefit from adopting selected advanced broadband applications depending on several contingent factors: (i) their industry of operations (services vs. manufacturing); (ii) the relevance of the specific broadband software applications for SMEs’ industry of operation; and (iii) the undertaking of complementary strategic and organisational changes.     

Health services research in nursing: current status and future directions

To assess the current status of health services research in nursing, 113 studies reported between 1980 and 1989 were reviewed. Identified gaps in this research included comprehensive cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses, effects of technology on patient care, evaluations of information systems, evaluations of innovative care delivery approaches, and studies of ethical issues related to the use of scarce resources.     

The impact of regulation and competition on the adoption of fiber-based broadband services: recent evidence from the European union member states

Fiber deployment of next-generation high-speed broadband networks is considered to be a decisive development for any information-based society, yet investment activities and especially the adoption of fiber-based broadband services take place only very gradually in most countries. This work employs static and dynamic model specifications and identifies the most important determinants of the adoption of fiber-based broadband services with recent panel data from the European Union member states for the years from 2004 to 2012. The results show that the more effective previous broadband access regulation is, the more negative the impact on adoption, while competitive pressure from mobile networks affects adoption in a non-linear manner. Finally, we also find evidence for substantial network effects underlying the adoption process.     

Reaching for a sustainable,resilient urban future using the lens of ecosystem services

Based on recent research on erosion of ecosystem services, planetary boundaries and predicted pace of urbanization, it is now apparent that humans need to reconnect to the biosphere and that cities in this context, properly managed, could provide great opportunities and arenas for social ecological change and transformation towards sustainability To take advantage of these opportunities one needs to keep in mind that most of the ecosystem services consumed in cities are generated by ecosystems located outside of the cities themselves, not seldom half a world away. In order to operationalize our knowledge, hypothesis and theories on the connections between the work of nature and the welfare and survival of humans over time, we suggest the use of the ecosystem service framework in combination with the merging of the concept “ecology in cities”, mainly focusing on designing energy efficient building, sustainable logistics and providing inhabitants with healthy and functioning green urban environments, and the “ecology of cities”. The “ecology of cities” framework acknowledges the total dependence of cities on the surrounding landscape and the ever-ongoing dance between urban and rural, viewing the city as an ecosystem.     

Orchestrating knowledge-creating networks: lessons from Taiwan's health services sector

The purpose of this study is to integrate transaction cost theory and the knowledge-based view of the firm to explore why and how a network's hub organisations orchestrate their members to create knowledge in the health services setting. Guided by organisation theory, this study examines a theoretical model at the organisation level, through a qualitative case study of Taiwan's health services sector. In addition to the discovery of a new sub-construct, the findings provide preliminary evidence that, both, transaction cost and knowledge-based factors influence the health services network as per the study's propositions. This study contributes to strategic technology management research by providing a conceptual model to describe and evaluate health services networks' orchestrating process for knowledge creation. The framework also provides a better understanding of, and a practical approach to managing networks to improve knowledge creation.     

Forecasting and analyzing the competitive diffusion of mobile cellular broadband and fixed broadband in Taiwan with limited historical data

Taiwan experienced the rapid growth of mobile cellular broadband from 2005 by introducing 3G operations and had higher penetration than the average of the developing countries, the world, and even the developed countries. There are many forecasting models which were developed and successfully predicted the diffusion of long lifecycle product, but there are very few forecasting models which were developed for predicting new products with short lifecycle. Assumption of these models is always the growth of products follows an S-shaped curve. As for the products which were just introduced to the market, it is very difficult to identify if they follow an S-shaped curve with their limited historical data. This research aims to apply Grey system theory to predict the diffusion of mobile cellular broadband and fixed broadband in Taiwan since Grey system theory has a characteristic which requires very limited primitive data (the least 4 data) to build a differential forecasting model. We use penetration as an indicator to describe the diffusion of new products. The numerical data show that the Grey forecasting models GM(1,1) built in this paper have higher prediction accuracy than logistic models and grey Verhulst models. Moreover, we apply Lotka–Volterra model to analyze the competitive relationship between mobile cellular broadband and fixed broadband. The empirical data show that the relationship is commensalism rather than predator–prey. These results can be extended to contribute to other researches.     

Exploring additional determinants of fixed broadband adoption: policy implications for narrowing the broadband demand gap

Using data from the survey ‘Aspects of daily life’ conducted on Italian individuals in 2014 by the Italian Institute of Statistics, we propose new evidence on the factors that encourage the adoption of fixed broadband, a topic relevant for the reduction of the so-called broadband demand gap. We estimate a probit model through the two-step Heckman procedure for the selection bias, and find that, besides the already studied socio-demographic determinants, Internet-capable devices other than personal computers, as well as recreational (essentially video contents) and cloud-related uses of the Internet, have a relevant positive role. Policies aimed at fostering the diffusion of smart homes and more generally of the Internet of things at the residential level might be very effective in favouring fixed broadband adoption, provided that the network be neutral, not discriminating between data based on their contents and/or the destination device, and that possible foreclosing behaviours in the access to (premium) contents be properly and promptly addressed.     

Product quality and competition: evidence from the broadband industry

Access to high-quality broadband internet is important in many different respects such as in communication, education, commerce and information acquisition. We investigate the relationship between the number of broadband providers in an area and the quality of broadband service provided where download speed is used as a proxy for quality. We find that increased competition in an area positively affects the access to fast download speeds. This finding is robust to three different top download speeds tested. Additionally, a theoretical model is provided which shows that competition can decrease the profits associated with offering slow speeds; this gives an incentive for providers to offer higher speeds as a way to increase profits.     

The future of farming: The value of ecosystem services in conventional and organic arable land. An experimental approach

In the current work, a novel, experimental ‘bottom-up’ approach is used to quantify the economic value of ecosystem services (ES) associated with highly modified arable landscapes in Canterbury, New Zealand. First, the role of land management practices in the maintenance and enhancement of ES in agricultural land was investigated by quantifying the economic value of ES at the field level under organic and conventional arable systems. This quantification was based on an experimental approach in contrast with earlier value transfer methods. Total economic value of ES in organic fields ranged from US $1610 to US $19,420 ha^− 1 yr^− 1 and that of conventional fields from US $1270 to US $14,570 ha^− 1 yr^− 1. The non-market value of ES in organic fields ranged from US $460 to US $5240 ha^− 1 yr^− 1. The range of non-market values of ES in conventional fields was US $50 — 1240 ha^− 1 yr^− 1. There were significant differences between organic and conventional fields for the economic values of some ES. Next, this economic information was used to extrapolate and to calculate the total and non-market value of ES in Canterbury arable land. The total annual economic and non-market values of ES for the conventional arable area in Canterbury (125,000 ha) were US $332 million and US $71 million, respectively. If half the arable area under conventional farming shifted to organic practices, the total economic value of ES would be US $192 million and US $166 million annually for organic and conventional arable area, respectively. In this case, the non-market value of ES for the organic area was US $65 million and that of conventional area was US $35 million annually. This study demonstrated that arable farming provides a range of ES which can be measured using field experiments based on ecological principles by incorporating a ‘bottom-up’ approach. The work also showed that conventional New Zealand arable farming practices can severely reduce the financial contribution of some of these services in agriculture whereas organic agricultural practices enhance their economic value.