On the role of telecommunications in development

Numerous studies document the relationship between telecommunications and economic development. The main types and relative merits of these are summarized. The paper argues that more of the same will do little to help promote accelerated telecommunications investment in developing countries as needed. Rather, the efforts should now mainly concentrate on conveying existing sector knowledge to governments and international agencies. The paper focuses on examples of simple, proven tools which can be used to supplement telecommunications project analysis for this purpose.     

A telecommunications taxonomy

With the advent of new technologies and recent changes in regulations and economies, telecommunications services have grown chaotically. This article describes a taxonomy which uses common terms and concepts to classify the services and features available in telecommunications systems, for planners and policy makers. The structure provides a common basis for Europeans in particular to discuss the formation of new broadband telecommunications networks. It can also be used to identify areas of R&D and to plan future services. As an example, the authors apply the taxonomy to suggest the kinds of elements, properties and rules which might form the basis of a taxonomy knowledge base in telecommunications systems.     

The distinction between carriage and content

The distinction between carriage and content has been offered as a conceptual means for distinguishing between new telecommunications activities which should be subject to regulation and those which should be unregulated. The author explores aspects of the limitations of that distinction and examines how a carrier can affect the content of the message, as well as who the message bearers and receivers will be. It is suggested that the most significant regulatory problems are at the boundary between carriage and content and that the carriage-content distinction should not be extended beyond its useful role (ie where the communications channel is effectively infinite). Throughout this article, reference is made to emerging issues of videotex regulation.     

Wanted — wise policy not restrictive regulation

This article begins by restating some familiar tenets of information processing and telecommunications theory: that our emerging post-industrial economy is becoming increasingly service-oriented with a corresponding emphasis being placed upon information-intensive activities;¹ that technical improvements in telecommunications systems are forthcoming at an almost exponential rate of increase;² that a wide array of developed or developing telecommunications systems (including computer-based word processing, cable/satellite TV, interactive video, videotext, etc) are being considered for possible application in varied settings (ranging from the home to the office to the delivery of governmental services).     

The regulation of transborder data flows

Restrictions on transmission of data across borders are sometimes proposed as means to control abuses such as invasions of privacy. The authors explore the thesis that controls on cross-border data flows are rarely effective in helping to achieve such ends. They argue that the technology of modern telecommunications does not allow easy control over message content; and that there are other, more strategically effective techniques to restrict abuses committed in international electronic transactions.     

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.     

Telecommunications evolution and inequities of current tax policies: A case analysis for New Jersey

Telecommunications technologies, services and regulatory policies have been on a rapid spiral of evolution in recent years. However, state policies on taxation of telecommunications services and service providers and the systems of compensation of local governments for the use of public resources by cable television and telecommunications companies, have not kept pace with this rapid change. This paper examines the case of the State of New Jersey. It provides a baseline profile of revenues, taxes and user fees of telecommunications service providers for 1999 through 2005. The paper illustrates the effect of convergence and discusses the need for updating tax policies.     

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.     

Telecommunications in Canada: The regulatory crisis

The article highlights the need for a national dimension in Canada's telecommunications systems. But the national dimension is undermined by the country's haphazard regulatory structure, and the consequent barriers to fair and equitable access to telecommunications services. A solution is proposed in the form of a national regulatory body which, without constitutional rearrangement, would yield effective federal authority and simultaneously ensure that valid concerns of a local or intraprovincial nature are taken into account.     

Standards for electronic message systems

Electronic message systems (EMS) are beginning to proliferate. Nearly two dozen commercial message systems already exist. At least two private message systems already carry several million messages annually. There will soon be dozens of EMS communities, each with thousands of users. However, unless dramatic breakthroughs in standards are made soon, each of these communities will be isolated, unable to exchange messages. This article describes the major stadardization issues raised by EMS: message structure standards; delivery standards; address identification standards; and, user interface standards. The problem of how to set EMS standards is also discussed.     

Complexity in the telecommunications industry: When integrating infrastructure and services backfires

The emergence of pure Internet-based service providers has put many integrated telecommunications firms - industry incumbents that provide services on their own infrastructure - under massive pressure. While various pure service providers enjoy high performance, the products offered by the incumbents often cannot compete on either price or user experience. Conventional wisdom, however, might suggest the opposite: that coordinating both infrastructure and services might allow the incumbents to reap synergy effects and create superior products. To address this issue, this paper applies a complex systems perspective to the telecommunications industry. It conceptualizes telecommunications firms to be searching for good configurations of interdependent service and infrastructure activities that need to fit together to achieve high-performing product systems. Using a simulation model, the paper shows that integrated operators can indeed take advantage of the interdependencies between the infrastructure and the service domain, resulting in superior product performance. Integrating infrastructure and services, however, can backfire: because learning about both domains and their interdependence requires more time, performance in the short run will be lower than that of pure service providers that can focus on adapting their service-related activities to an infrastructure that is beyond their control. The paper characterizes the conditions under which these effects can arise and concludes with implications for management and policy.     

Communication satellites for rural development

The author points out that telecommunications in rural areas are an essential infrastructure for development, and that appropriately designed satellites could form an important part of rural communications technology. He argues that hybrid systems involving clusters of communities, served by a single ground station and rural radio telephone interconnection, are likely to be lower cost than all-satellite or terrestrial-only systems.     

APEC: steps to harmonising regional telecom policy

In spite of initial pessimistic analysis and observations, APEC has made sustained and collective efforts to overcome huge disparities in political, economic and cultural systems, and has achieved significant results in harmonising telecommunications policy and market liberalisation. This paper analyses how APEC member economies have overcome difficulties and have created unique approaches to establishing consensus and liberalising the telecommunications market in the region. Despite the current economic turmoil, APEC leaders are continuing in their efforts to advance the Asia Pacific Information Society (APIS). This paper also provides some perspectives on further development for the future.     

Uncertain prospects for ISDN : A Spanish view

Operators of telecommunications networks, network systems manufacturers and policy markers have placed their hopes on ISDN for a stable and brilliant telecommunications future. However, non-voice service providers, customer premises equipment manufacturers and large users fear that the envisaged network approach will not serve their future requirements. Telecommunications networks will have a strategic importance in national economic development. It is important not to constrain that development by tying them to an inappropriate and inflexible network structure. In this article the uncertainties of the ISDN network are reviewed, questions are raised and the evolution of the network is examined, from the perspective of the actors involved in the sector: large users, equipment manufacturers, policy makers and service providers.     

Computer room risk assessment

Large computer systems have become pervasive in today's “Information Society.” In airlines, banking, telecommunications and many other businesses, the computer system provides the competitive edge. The risk of damage to either equipment or data or both has become a vital concern.     

Economic growth,telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector: Evidence around the world

This paper studies the relationships between economic growth, telecommunications development and productivity growth of the telecommunications sector in different countries and regions of the world. In particular, this study assesses the impact of mobile telecommunications on economic growth and telecommunications productivity. The results indicate that there is a bidirectional relationship between real gross domestic product (GDP) and telecommunications development (as measured by teledensity) for European and high-income countries. However, when the impact of mobile telecommunications development on economic growth is measured separately, the bi-directional relationship is no longer restricted to European and high-income countries. This study also finds that countries in the upper-middle income group have achieved a higher average total factor productivity (TFP) growth than other countries. Countries with competition and privatization in telecommunications have achieved a higher TFP growth than those without competition and privatization. The diffusion of mobile telecommunications services is found to be a significant factor that has improved the TFP growth of the telecommunications sector in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).     

Institutional environment and complementary assets: Business strategy in China’s 3G development

This paper develops a framework to assess the influences of institutions and markets on the business strategy of firms in transition economies. We argue that regulatory systems and markets in transition economies are interdependent. Their changing conditions will interact and influence the types of partnerships in new market entry. Using a case study approach based on historical data and interviews, we show how China’s telecommunications industry evolved between 1987 and 2007, and led to the development of a 3G (third generation mobile telecommunications) standard and networks. Our analysis based on the framework explains how regulative elements and market conditions shape the strategic choices of partnerships between domestic and foreign firms when entering China’s 3G market.     

虚拟设备驱动程序的开发设计

深入分析了 Windows9x的虚拟机环境 ,Vx D技术的文件结构及其消息处理 ,介绍了 Vx D常用开发工具。最后给出了一个 Vx D例程     

Technology and structures: Man and machine

The increasing size of the telecommunications machine poses a threat to its flexibility and adaptive capacity. The author examines this problem from the point of view of telecommunication organizations, taking account of the degree of government regulation and methods of raising capital. He offers a critical view of the unwieldiness and inertia in the telecommunication systems.