Satellite communications : US policy considerations

Regulatory decisions have controlled the possible technical alternatives in the use of artificial satellites, for both domestic and international telecommunications, since the enactment by the US Congress of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962. At the same time, advancements in technology have caused satellite systems to play a larger role in telecommunications. An updating of the 1934 Communications Act would allow for a more definitive statement of national satellite policy and for a revised regulatory standard. This article reviews some of the principle factors which have influenced communications satellite policy, and offers additional issues for consideration that can affect the development of communications satellite markets, systems and services.     

International legal norms governing development of the orbit/spectrum resource

Resource development is the process of dispersing concentrated values. International law relating to resource development establishes objectives for value dispersion and puts forward rules by which these objectives may be attained. The geostationary orbit and the electromagnetic spectrum are two store-houses of value, or resources, coming under increasingly vigorous international control. The author first describes geostationary satellite communications as the dispersion of values concentrated in the geostationary orbit and in the electromagnetic spectrum. He then addresses the objectives of international satellite communications policy and the relative effectiveness of relevant legal rules in implementing those objectives.     

Excess capacity in international telecommunications

International telecommunications facilities—both satellite and cable circuits—in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins are characterized by persistent excess capacity. Although some excess is desirable to provide flexibility and protection against system failure, the problem is so great that Intelsat has 100 satellite transponders deemed surplus to international requirements. However, plans are under way for continued expansion of cable and satellite capacity. This article examines why telecommunications organizations are investing in such a seemingly wasteful manner. Three possible explanations are explored: (a) over-optimistic traffic forecasts, (b) market structure and regulatory policy, and (c) inefficient pricing of circuits.     

主要国家能源发展战略及政策调整动向

2008年国际金融危机爆发以来,世界地缘政治格局发生深刻变化,世界经济复苏仍存在较大不确定性,国际能源市场更为复杂。为此,主要能源消费国和资源国对能源发展战略和政策进行了调整,主要体现在几个方面:1)力求能源结构和来源多元化;2)提高能源自给能力;3)核能政策出现分化,部分国家仍对发展核电持积极态度,但部分国家放弃发展核电;4)大力发展新能源和可再生能源;5)突出节能和提高能效;6)注重加强国际能源合作;7)重视能源技术创新。这些能源政策动向将对全球能源市场走势产生深远影响。     

The economic implications of satellite technology and the industrialization of space

This article examines the economic issues emerging from systems options in space industrialization, allocation of orbital space and the impact of satellite technology on economic development. The economics of space industrialization involve most areas of economic analysis, including market failures, regulation and the theory of economic development. With the global economy wavering between recessions and upturns, and with the debts of developing countries threatening the international banking system, the economic impact of satellite technology becomes increasingly relevant.     

A mechanisms-based explanation of nutrition policy (dis)integration processes in Uganda

Many African governments have recently invested in strengthened nutrition policy integration to address malnutrition; as a step towards realising the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 2. Previous studies have identified various factors that enable or constrain how nutrition integration occurs across policy sectors. However, the explanatory value of these studies has remained relatively limited, as the causal processes through which independent variables affect policy outcomes remain unelucidated. This paper addresses this gap by applying a causal mechanisms approach to investigate the processes that explain observed patterns of nutrition policy (dis)integration in different ministries in Uganda. We employed a process-tracing research design to reconstruct the context-mechanism configurations that explain the observed patterns of nutrition integration in Uganda between 2000 and 2017. Data was collected from interviews with 34 respondents, various policy and programming documents, and a focus group discussion. Our analysis reveals that increased nutrition policy integration is explained by four causal mechanisms: (1) international policy promotion; (2) issue promotion by international actors; (3) issue promotion by domestic policy entrepreneurs; and (4) instrumental policy learning. Conversely, two mechanisms led to policy disintegration: (1) leadership contestation; and (2) turf wars. All mechanisms proved activated by configurations of contextual conditions that were time- and organisation-specific. This study showed how a mechanisms approach can provide a more refined understanding of policy successes and failures in nutrition governance. Whereas integration-fostering mechanisms cannot be automated, both government and international actors working to scale up investments in nutrition need to consider and invest in the contextual conditions that allow for sustained nutrition policy integration and, ultimately, a more effective delivery of nutrition services. These include developing leadership for nutrition at different governance levels, domestic ownership and integration-fostering capacity, and supporting policy-oriented learning.     

International management of R&D: The Swedish Experience

This paper summarizes the results of in-depth case studies of international R&D management in four Swedish multinational corporations. The results suggest that foreign volumes and shares of R&D expenditures are rapidly increasing. Through a rapidly increasing number of foreign acquisitions, foreign R&D laboratories have been added. As part of international rationalization of production, foreign units have been given global product mandates with responsibility both for manufacturing and R&D. In maturing foreign subsidiaries, routine technical activities have often evolved into proper R&D. Tight labour market conditions for engineers in Sweden have made it increasingly necessary to exploit existing technical capacity, regardless of location.
Concurrently, companies face new pressures for international coordination and control of R&D. Coordination is required to reduce product differentiation, to facilitate technology transfer and to ensure the technical and market compatibility of products and components developed at different locations but sold as part of total systems. Drawing on the experience in the four investigated companies, the paper discusses how systems and procedures can be developed to meet the need for coordinated international R&D management.     

Mandating front-of-package food labels in the U.S. – What are the First Amendment obstacles?

Front-of-package (FOP) food labels are symbols, schemes, or systems designed to communicate concise and useful nutrition-related information to consumers to facilitate healthier food choices. FOP label policies have been implemented internationally that could serve as policy models for the U.S. However, the First Amendment poses a potential obstacle to U.S. government-mandated FOP requirements. We systematically reviewed existing international and major U.S.-based nutrition-related FOP labels to consider potential U.S. policy options and conducted legal research to evaluate the feasibility of mandating a FOP label in the U.S. We identified 24 international and 6 U.S.-based FOP labeling schemes. FOP labels which only disclosed nutrient-specific data would likely meet First Amendment requirements. Certain interpretive FOP labels which provide factual information with colors or designs to assist consumers interpret the information could similarly withstand First Amendment scrutiny, but questions remain regarding whether certain colors or shapes would qualify as controversial and not constitutional. Labels that provide no nutrient information and only an image or icon to characterize the entire product would not likely withstand First Amendment scrutiny.     

Development of policy in the ITU

As one of the oldest functional-purpose international organisations, the ITU is dedicated to voluntary agreements. These concern allocation of a scarce, internationally shared resourced, the radio frequency spectrum; standardisation of telecommunication services and systems; and joint planning. The organisation's policy making in pursuit of these objectives is outlined. Powers given to different organs are explained. Several cases are cited as illustrations of policy problems and their solutions. In summary, the rationale for the ITU's complex, federated structure is described.     

Food security and nutrition challenges in Tajikistan: Opportunities for a systems approach

Despite progress in poverty reduction achieved over the last two decades, Tajikistan’s food security situation remains challenging. Recent studies and analyses have highlighted progress as well as areas that require increased attention from the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and international development partners. The paper argues that a systems approach that takes into consideration policy interventions by different sectors is required to more effectively improve access and affordability of healthy diets, contributing to a better food security and nutrition situation of the population.     

Sovereignty and universal service: sacred cows in the satellite industry

Globalisation strikes at the cornerstone of telecom policy — i.e., the sovereign right of every country to license the provision and use of telecoms within its borders. Sovereignty has historically been protected by means of a licence, the fees, conditions and procedures for which vary significantly around the world. In the satellite industry, those countries with the lowest teledensities tend to have the highest licence fees. Although there is a trend towards lower licence fees for subscribers, some regulators are just shifting the burden to service providers or the satellite operators. The European Commission and the European Conference of Post and Telecom Administrations (CEPT) have taken steps towards greater harmonisation of licensing conditions, one of which is universal service obligations (USOs). More than half of all countries have USOs which originated in the days of monopoly. With growing competition globally, assumptions about USOs need to be challenged. Regulators should refocus their energies from imposing tough conditions on the satellite industry to removing regulatory roadblocks.     

Satellite TV programming

The German TV viewer catches CBS news by satellite. The Italian farmer watches a dubbed British documentary on a Dorset farming community. Harrods' shoppers see Soviet sports on TV screens on offer in this London store. A Parisian opera lover tunes into a Vienna Opera production, brought to him live via broadcast satellite and his Left Bank flat's earth station. Many of Europe's viewers stimultaneously take in a Coca-Cola ad specially conceived for the international satellite market.     

The stabilisation of the international coffee market

The inherent instability in the international coffee market has long been a major problem for both producers and consumers. Traditionally, attempts have been made to reduce both long-and short-term fluctuations using single policy instruments, such as export quotas. However, an examination of the causes of the two types of variability, and a comparative assessment of the likely success of various types of policy indicates that, although short term instability can be effectively removed by traditional instruments, the more problematic, long-term cyclicality requires more specific, separate consideration.     

Global water crisis and future food security in an era of climate change

Food policy should serve humanity by advancing the humane goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. However, these goals have recently been challenged by emerging forces including climate change, water scarcity, the energy crisis as well as the credit crisis. This paper analyses the overall role of these forces and population growth in redefining global food security. Specifically, global water supply and demand as well as the linkages between water supply and food security are examined. The analysis reveals that the water for food security situation is intricate and might get daunting if no action is taken. Investments are needed today for enhancing future food security; this requires action on several fronts, including tackling climate change, preserving land and conserving water, reducing the energy footprint in food systems, developing and adopting climate resilient varieties, modernising irrigation infrastructure, shoring up domestic food supplies, reforming international food trade, and responding to other global challenges.     

DBS systems : Perspectives from a profit seeking company

Considerable work has been reported on the tradeoffs associated with direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems. These studies have considered total investment costs (space segment plus ground segment), but have not dealt with a number of other business-related parameters which affect system design. This article addresses some of these issues from the viewpoint of a commercial entity in the USA. It considers intial financing, short-term v long-term competitive advantages, system features v cost, effects of partially shifting the investment burden to the consumer, technology improvements, satellite constraints and economies of scale, flexibility, commercial alliances, and regulatory constraints. Examples are given to illustrate the tradeoffs involved and the effects of some of the factors.     

How useful is the PSE in determining agricultural support?

The support of the agricultural sector in developed countries plays a major role in the international policy agenda. The producer support estimate (PSE) is one of the best known measures which has been developed by OECD and is used all over the globe. In the PSE all types of support are aggregated and one of the main components (70% at OECD level) is the market price support (MPS). Here we show by means of characteristic examples that the MPS has no clear relation to basic economic measures determining support for producers as a consequence of policy intervention. The MPS overestimates the consequences of tariffs and export subsidies and underestimates the consequences of quota systems in determining producer support. Misperception of the size and directions of support may affect policy decision-making wrongly. The paper indicates that weighted average producer prices, corrected for quantity restrictions, may be more useful than the reference prices and quantities used by OECD.     

Supra-national regulation for supra-national telecommunications carriers?

The article reviews the extraordinary number of international ventures by major telecommunications organizations and explores problems for traditional national regulation that these global networks create. A theoretical model is defined that illustrates the adjustment process of different national policies to each other. The choice of various supra-national regulatory arrangements is shown to be affecting substantive policy. The article then discusses options for coordination and concludes that the concrete problems created by supra-national carriers do not justify the hidden cost of elaborate mechanisms of supra-national policy. Since such coordination has traditionally been used to prop up monopoly arrangements, a better approach for the foreseeable future is to encourage more national policy experimentation and focus less on international policy coordination.     

‘New order’ or business as usual: uncertainties and issues for frequency policy and WARC 79

One by one previously calm, traditional areas of telecommunications planning and policy have been upset and their landscapes changed beyond recognition by technological and social change: examples now familiar include the revolution in network planning brought about by digital and stored-program technologies, and the steady trend, most notable in the USA but increasingly visible in Europe, towards more competition, initially in such ‘peripheral’ areas as the supply of terminals and the development of private ‘affinity’ networks. At the same time international affairs have been transformed in the past twenty years by such factors as the increasing assertiveness of the developing countries, the growing importance of international cooperation and international institutions in a high-technology world economy, and the new world role of China. All these forces converge in the international process of frequency-spectrum regulation carried on through the International Telecommunication Union and due for thorough-going review at the General World Administrative Radio Conference to be held in September 1979 (WARC 79), the first such conference for twenty years.     

Mapping moral philosophies: strategic implications for multinational firms

Strategic managers appear increasingly under pressure from stakeholder concerns regarding social and ethical issues. Partially in response, the supply of ethical decision‐making models has grown rapidly. Business ethics scholars have broadened their scope to incorporate moral philosophies into their research endeavors. Despite these positive trends, the international focus of business ethics research has been slow to evolve. Yet, diverse moral philosophies, often most apparent across international borders, have important strategic implications for multinational firms. The ethical norms pursued by cross‐cultural alliance partners, distributors, suppliers, customers, financiers, and foreign government agencies can create public relations disasters, foster shareholder unrest, lead to consumer boycotts, and impact organizational outcomes. We seek to rectify the deficiency in international business ethics scholarship with two distinct contributions. First, we develop a new cross‐cultural, macro‐level model of societal ethics. Second, we map moral philosophies onto an established framework for assessing socioeconomic environments. These theoretical tools should assist managers of multinational organizations, international policy‐makers, and researchers to recognize and prepare for the ethical consequences of international strategic decisions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.