Telecommunications in the land of the Thunder Dragon: recent developments in Bhutan

This paper charts the development of telecommunications in Bhutan. Since the introduction of telecommunications services in 1963 Bhutan has faced many challenges as it has sought to roll out a network that covers the whole population and country. A small population, a mountainous geography, a transitional economy and a unique approach to development—Gross National Happiness—present many challenges that need to be overcome if the telecommunications industry is to develop further. Added to this is the decision of Bhutan to join the outside world through membership of the ITU, APT and WTO that has added liberalisation and privatisation to the challenges faced by Bhutan. This paper identifies two broad policy options that Bhutan could adopt—network expansion nationally or investment concentration towards urban areas. The authors conclude that due to the limited resources available to Bhutan these policies are contradictory and will take the telecommunications industry in quite different directions if adopted.     

Telecommunications privacy and the information society

Determining the appropriate actions to insure telecommunications privacy in the domestic telephone system presents unusually complex and interrelated considerations of law, technology and foreign policy. In this article, the author explores these considerations as they pertain to possible future telecommunications policy options for the government in its relations with the privately owned and operated telecommunications industry in the USA.     

The patient trajectory: A modelling tool for planning rural telemedicine systems

The authors present an analytical tool developed and applied to plan for the use of telecommunications technology to link a non-physician health care provider in a rural satellite clinic to a central source of medical expertise. The principal result obtained is that narrowband technologies appear nearly two- thirds as effective as broadband technologies in averting patient travel.     

Telecommunications technology applications and standards : A new role for the user

Telecommunications is at a critical juncture in the development of technology, policy and industry structure. The industry is becoming increasingly global and competitive; technology is developing faster than it can be implemented; and telecommunications is becoming strategically important to user organizations. Regulatory bodies and standards organizations are struggling with these developments. Public policy that encourages both competition in the telecommunications industry as well as the organized participation of users in the development of new technology applications, technical standards and industry regulations is essential for realizing the prospective benefits of the information age.     

US telecommunications regulation: Will technology decide?

Twenty years ago, the telecommunications industry was an established regulated monopoly. But improvements in technology and reductions in costs have ripped apart the premises of natural monopoly and the economic rationale for public utility regulation. The authors review past US telecommunications policy and question the assumptions of the current search for a policy for the future. They believe that, for the industry to develop, institutions and restraints need to be removed.     

Digital divide or digital opportunity in the Mississippi Delta region of the US

This study analyzes the interdependence of telecommunications manufacturing, services, and user industries in the Mississippi Delta region of the US to understand the social and economic prospects of poorer rural areas of the US as advanced technologies rapidly proliferate. An underlying assumption is that telecommunications industries should not be viewed only by the employment they directly support; they should also be analyzed in terms of their linkages to other industries and how those linkages influence the competitiveness and growth prospects of businesses and public institutions in the region by building a capable community of technology users. The absence of leading telecom manufacturing and service firms in rural Delta counties together with low levels of connectivity suggest that digital divide problems are very real for the region. The central economic development challenge should be to ensure that rural businesses, government, health care, education, and non-profit institutions gain access to an advanced telecommunications infrastructure and that they develop the capacity to leverage this access to enhance their performance and expand their reach.     

Network control in global communications

The author examines the impact of technology on international communications in terms of the changing concept of the telecommunications ‘user’, the development of private networks, and the emergence of service bureaus. After defining and discussing the resulting policy problems, he briefly reviews the policy process and questions its adequacy in the new world of telecommunications.     

Reform of telecommunications regulation in Japan and Canada

Despite demographic and political differences, Japan and Canada face many similar challenges in the development of new telecommunications policy. These include interbureaucratic conflict, reorganization initiatives by the telcos and policy development by non-elected officials. Differences include the nature of policy change, the role of economic considerations and decision-making processes. This comparative analysis concludes by suggesting that each country may learn useful lessons with respect to public involvement, local rates, local measured service and the process of regulatory change.     

Competition in the telecommunications infrastructure: Implications for the peripheral regions and small countries in Europe

Recent technological, economic and policy shifts have placed the issues surrounding future communications infrastructure development and competition at the centre of European debates in the mid-1990s. This article examines how realistic, viable or universal is the vision of competing, alternative telecommunications infrastructures and facilities, especially in the case of the smaller and less developed economies/regions. This article critically assesses the challenges posed by, and implications of, competition in the telecommunications infrastructures in the less favoured regions and smaller economies of Europe.     

Global political economy of technology standardization: A case of the Korean mobile telecommunications market

This paper examines empirical cases of standardization in the Korean mobile market as vehicles for approaching the broader political and institutional context of standardization in telecommunications. A consideration of Korean standardization in the mobile telecommunications market is particularly interesting because it reveals how the state's political interests influence standards decisions, which are primarily driven by market and technological changes in telecommunications. Judged from the social construction of technology perspective which sheds light not only on technology itself but also on political, social and economic interests that surround transformations in technology, this paper highlights power relations among the major actors that have made technology standards decisions in Korea regarding second (2G) and third-generation (3G) mobile telephony. The paper also attempts to show how the Korean government has dealt with the diverse interests of various market actors while pursuing its own policy agenda.     

The transformation of the mobile telecommunications industry in Pakistan: A developing country perspective

This paper offers a rare insight into the reality of the mobile telecommunications market transformation in Pakistan. Our analytical framework treats the mobile telecommunications market as a complex socio-technical system. Specifically, we define the telecommunications market as being composed of technology standards and three sets of social actors that include government institutions, network and service providers, and users. In the case of Pakistan, these social actors together determine the adoption of standards and services, and thus shape the trajectory of the market change. Our case study provides evidence that a pro-competition policy is imperative for mobile telecommunications development in developing countries, and an independent regulator is critical in promoting technological innovation.     

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.     

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.     

Estimating demand elasticities using nonlinear pricing

Nonlinear pricing is prevalent in industries such as health care, public utilities, and telecommunications. However, this pricing scheme introduces bias into estimating elasticities for welfare analysis or policy changes. I develop a local elasticity estimation method that uses nonlinear price schedules to isolate consumers' expenditure choices from selection and simultaneity biases. This method improves over previous approaches by using commonly-available observational data and requiring only a single general monotonicity assumption. Using claims-level data on health insurance with two nonlinearities, I am able to measure two separate elasticities, and find that elasticity declines from − 0.26 to− 0.09 by the second nonlinearity. These estimates are then used to calculate moral hazard deadweight loss. This method enables estimation of many policies with nonlinear pricing which previous tools could not address.     

Convergence and new regulatory frameworks: A comparative study of regulatory approaches to Internet telephony

As an archetype of convergence, Internet telephony has been questioning the continuing appropriateness of the current telecommunications policy and regulation. This article examines how policy makers and regulators in the US, the EU, Japan and Singapore have responded to the challenges brought about by Internet telephony. Their common approach seems to apply the existing regulatory framework to this new service. The authors argue that those responses will not be aligned with the dynamically changing communications environment and explain two key shifts taking place in the communications industry that should be taken into account to form more appropriate regulatory frameworks.     

The evolution of telecommunications policy-making: Comparative analysis of China and India

This paper is a comparative analysis of the telecommunications policy-making process in China and India. Adopting an institutionalist perspective and multi-streams framework, the paper analyzes the formal structures, rule-making procedures and interest groups involved in telecommunications policy-making in the two countries, in terms of their evolution over the last two decades. Though the two systems began this period with a somewhat similar ministerial-bureaucratic decision-making model, and faced similar problems of assimilating new interest groups and responding to international pressures, the paper finds that the decision systems in the two countries evolved in significantly different directions. China's telecommunications decision-making is significantly affected by the macro level political rearrangement and is more likely to be non-incremental. On the other hand, confronted by an increasingly litigious environment and a more fractious interest group culture, India represents a somewhat classical textbook case of incremental policy making. Nevertheless, numerous challenges remain in both countries, including institutional capacity and excessive regulatory deference to political authority.     

Regional universal telecommunication service provisions in the US: Efficiency versus penetration

Universal service, the long time goal of telecommunications regulation, is under new scrutiny by stakeholders. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 eliminated the barriers to competition implemented in the transitional Modified Final Judgment of 1984. The FCC is now setting up a new universal service plan, which extends its scope to schools, libraries and health care providers. At the same time, however, concerns about the effectiveness of the universal service are increasing. This article reports on a study which first investigates the growth patterns in the number of house-holds by income groups in states, and then examines the effectiveness and efficiency of the universal service policy on low-income households at the state level.     

Telecommunications policy and individuals with disabilities: Issues of accessibility and social inclusion in the policy and research agenda

Information and communications technologies have become an integral part of life in an information society, affecting employment, education and many other daily activities. For individuals with disabilities, equal access to telecommunications remains a concern, as many technologies that are developed do not allow for equal access. Law and policy have made significant progress in some nations, but sizeable barriers remain to the social inclusion of individuals with disabilities in telecommunications technologies and services. This paper examines the importance of equal access to telecommunications for individuals with disabilities in both the formulation and the implementation of policy. Analyzing issues of policy and implementation, this paper discusses policy questions and potential areas of research to better understand the relationship of telecommunications policy to access for persons with disabilities.     

Implementing policy on next-generation broadband networks and implications for equity of access to high speed broadband: A case study of Australia's NBN

Next generation telecommunications infrastructure is expanding and supporting rapid growth of broadband technologies and a digital economy. In this context, digital information and communications technologies (ICTs) are of increasing importance as a means for people to gain access to health or social services, employment opportunities, information and social networks. In this article we draw on our recent case study research to examine the policy (and politics) shaping implementation of Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) and its likely effects on equity of access to high speed broadband (HSB) services. We monitored NBN policy and implementation from 2015 to 2018 through policy documents, reports, and media. To assess likely effects of NBN policy on implementation and subsequently on equity of access to HSB we: a) applied a framework defining four elements of equity of access; and b) analysed stakeholder views drawn from media articles and 22 interviews with experts on NBN policy including politicians, government staff, and industry representatives. We found that equity considerations competed with political and commercial imperatives during the rollout of the NBN. This resulted in positive and negative consequences for equity of access to HSB, with a change in policy and implementation in 2013 bringing greater risks to equity of access. The case study provides a framework for considering equity in the implementation of next generation telecommunications infrastructure and highlights the importance of considering equity in the evaluation of telecommunications infrastructure.