The future role of international telecommunications institutions

The telecommunications world is being swept by technological and national regulatory changes. The international telecommunication institutions — the ITU, INTELSAT and CEPT — were founded in times when technological trends were more stable and national regulation was more homogeneous. How will they cope with these new changes? In an era of growing heterogeneity, the ITU may need to look increasingly beynd itself to maintain its centrality. Meanwhile, INTELSAT faces challenges from new market entrants and a more flexible approach to new technological and commercial imperatives in satellite and cable services. The EEC is awakening to the need for institutional change within Europe and this is already having an impact on CEPT. It is concluded that to survive and to maintain relevance the existing international institutions will need to initiate changes or face a loss of authority to other institutions such as OECD and EEC.     

Telecommunications in West Germany : The transformation of the technical and political framework

The most recognizable characteristic of the West German telecommunication infrastructure is the far-reaching isolation of networks, transmission services and terminal equipment. The completion plans of the West German PTT intend to end this separation. Using the telephone network as a base, all services will be integrated so that they are available from the telephone socket, acting as a communication socket for all transmission purposes. Concerning the political and legal framework, the main characteristic of the West German telecommunication sector is its high degree of regulation. This pattern of regulation is likely to change in 1988/89 with a new telecommunication law. The draft of this law proposes the deregulation of all transmission services (except the voice transmission service) and all terminal equipment markets. Networks shall continue to be owned by the West German PTT.     

ITU Plenipotentiary Conference and beyond : A case for serious foreign policy

The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference held in Nairobi in the Fall of 1982 was a significant international instrument for the conduct of telecommunication foreign policy. Growing demand for telecommunication services and products coupled with the economic and sociocultural impact of new technologies have resulted in greater global interest in the problems, issues and technical complexities of maintaining order in global telecommunication. A major theme of this article is that ITU deliberations and decisions are all part of the growing telecommunication foreign policy agenda and that the benefits of successful diplomancy are usually worth the costs of effective and coordinated domestic and international policy development.     

Formal standards-setting for global telecommunications and information services. Towards an institutional regime transformation?

This paper reviews the nature and economic significance of the activities carried on by standards development organizations (SDOs), focusing in particular upon the telecommunications and information technology standards-setting work of the government-created public and quasi-public institutions, and the international treaty organizations that constitute the formal standards sector. It documents the current sources of tension within this regime and appraises various proposals for organizational reforms. There are especially pressing needs for adaptations of the inherited institutional mechanisms for technical coordination to provide for inter-operability in the development of new telecommunication networks and services. Among the manifold sources of strain on the old structure, those which seem at once most fundamental and potentially most threatening are the recently heightened industrial perceptions of the potential strategic value of standards as tools of business competition and national policy, and the incentives for ‘institutional by-pass’ that have been created by the rapid proliferation of technological possibilities. The paper considers some alternative organizational models for negotiated standard-setting that might be able to withstand, and better harness these forces for the continued production of standards as public goods.     

Competitive relationships between traditional and contemporary telecommunication services in Taiwan

This study sets out to examine the competitive relationships that exist within the telecommunications market using the niche theory on the personal gratifications and system gratifications dimensions. The findings from the analysis of 363 survey responses indicate that traditional and contemporary telecommunication services offer different specializations to satisfy their consumers. Overall, mobile telecommunication services partially replace wired services, on personal gratifications dimensions in particular. The system gratifications dimensions of the wired telecommunication services facilitate the existence of wired services. New telecommunication services (3G and VoIP) partially replace old telecommunication services (home landline and 2G) in providing greater satisfaction in entertainment. The results also demonstrate that VoIP does not impose competitive displacement effects on home landline, 2G, and 3G services. Limitation and suggestions are discussed.     

Inequalities of opportunity in the access and use of telecommunication services in Togo

The liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Togo aimed at ensuring access to a better quality of telecommunication services at affordable prices to everyone. While the liberalization policy has increased competition in the sector and reduced significantly telecommunication services prices charged to costumers, statistics on the access and use of telecommunication services in Togo reveal disparities with respect to individuals' socio-economic characteristics which could be an indication of the existence of inequalities of opportunities in the access and use of these services.This paper investigates the inequalities of opportunity in the access and use of telecommunication services in Togo using a parametric approach. The results of estimations indicate that, inequalities of opportunities are larger for men and the elderly than respectively women and youths and are more pronounced in urban areas and regions such as the Plateaux and Savanna regions. Moreover, the circumstance variables such as the ‘place of residence’ and the ‘region’ are the key variables in explaining the inequalities of opportunities in the access and use of telecommunication services in Togo. So, policies toward reducing inequalities of opportunity in the access and use of telecommunication services in Togo should be designed with regards to men, the elderly, and people living in urban areas and regions such as the Plateaux and Savanna regions.     

A study of service quality in rural ICT renters of Iran by SERVQUAL

The development of rural telecommunication services in Iran has been a major and national concern during the past few years. Towards the national planning and in a giant movement, 10 000 centers have been established in rural areas. Because of the novelty of such centers, the authors try to measure the service quality of the rural ICT centers using the SERVQUAL model. The results can be used towards the betterment of the services. Five hypotheses including tangibility, accountability, guarantee, empathy and reliability of service were examined. Twenty four ICT centers were selected in Rasht city as sample. Considering common sense or perception, 63% of the subjects evaluated the quality of services as average. In terms of quality, empathy was ranked as the ideal dimension followed by tangibility, certainties, trust, and guarantee, respectively. However, the least appropriate dimension of quality was given to accountability. In terms of expectation, the highest percentage of individuals, that is, 92% believed that quality of services was important, and believed that among the components of quality indices from the most to the least important items were: reliability, tangibility, accountability, guarantee, and empathy consecutively. This research showed that the SERVQUAL model can be used for determine the quality of services offered by Tele-centers in rural areas.     

The diffusion of new telecommunication technologies

This article assesses the recent diffusion of new telecommunication technologies. Drawing upon an historical framework, the authors find that new technologies face significant barriers to rapid penetration in the home and office. Data on cable television, electronic text services, teleconferencing and alternative video distribution technologies are analysed to highlight the constraints facing the growth of new telecommunications services.     

The monopoly v competition debate

Arguments for and against monopoly and competition in the provision of telecommunication services are considered from the perspective of a dominant telecommunications operator in a small European country, Sweden. The importance of provision of public services is stressed as well as the need for efficient international standardization. Finally, it is argued that there is a parallel between the position of dominant telecommunication operators in small and medium-sized countries and the INTELSAT system.     

The evolution of cognitive radio technology in Europe: Regulatory and standardization aspects

Cognitive radio (CR) is considered a promising technology that could provide important benefits in the telecommunication domain. In Europe, the number of research projects, standardization activities and public consultations by the European Commission and regulatory authorities testify to the growing interest in CR. The introduction of CR in the telecommunication market may require new regulations or changes to the way spectrum is licensed and the conditions under which it can be used. The concepts of CR can be applied to various operational scenarios, which are described in this paper.This paper identifies the main challenges for the deployment of CR technology in Europe, provides an overview of the activities by European regulatory and standardization bodies to address the identified challenges and describes a roadmap with potential actions to support the adoption of CR technology.     

Measuring the impact of telecommunication services on rural and remote communities

The potential benefits that telecommunication services bring to rural and remote communities are generally perceived as beneficial though difficult to ascertain. This article reviews the rationale and elements for measuring the impact of telecommunication services on rural and remote communities, and proposes some concrete ways forward based on current practice.     

Regulating audiotex: Lessons for the future development and oversight of electronic information and telecommunication services

Much can be learned from the audiotex experience regarding the future regulation of automated, recorded, live conversation and fax-based information and entertainment telecommunication services. Audiotex has raised a number of ‘carriage v content’ issues with significance for value-added multimedia services more generally. In addition, audiotex has led policy makers and practitioners alike to wrestle with the challenges posed to traditional, industry-focused regulatory regimes by the convergence of the telecommunications, broadcasting, computing and publishing industries which lies at the heart of the development of multimedia services. This paper draws heavily on events in two of the most developed domestic audiotex markets (the UK and the USA) in discussing four lessons which it is suggested both industry players and regulatory bodies take from the audiotex experience in considering the future development and oversight of electronic information and telecommunication services.     

ITU conference in Nairobi: Confrontation or mutual understanding?

This article discusses decisions taken at the Nairobi Plenipotentiary Conference on the technical cooperation activities of the International Telecommunication Union, and relates them to other important ITU activities. Proposals for a new regulatory framework for telecommunication services to be considered at the forthcoming World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference are also examined.     

Universal service and disabled people

The EU regulatory framework enacted 25 May 2011 has the objective to provide functionally equal access to telecommunication services for disabled persons. What are the rules, who are the target groups, and what obstacles do they face when using various telecommunication services? And what arrangements do exist in a selected group of six EU Member States to remove these obstacles? Recommendations include the introduction of a more market-oriented approach, independent of specific networks.     

Technology development and adoption rates: Systems approach for agricultural research and extension

Adoption of new technology in peasant agriculture remains lower than expected. Failure to achieve expected returns is associated more with insufficiencies in the conduct of research than with external and economic factors such as price structure or lack of agricultural support services. This article sets out the case for national agricultural research and extension structures that emphasize on-farm research with a systems approach.     

Retaining telecommunication services when universal service is defined by functionality: Japanese consumers' willingness-to-pay

This study uses contingent valuation to measure Japanese customers' willingness-to-pay to maintain combinations of five telecommunication services that are considered substitutes if universal service is defined on the basis of functionality. The analysis revealed the following results. First, consumers are more willing to pay to retain voice communication services than data transmission services. Second, customers accept Internet Protocol telephony as a substitute for plain old telephone service (POTS) as a universal service, and they are willing to pay much more than Japan's current Universal Service Fund charge. Third, even when mobile phone service (MOB) is available, consumers will pay to retain fixed-line voice services. Finally, consumers have an equal desire to keep fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and fixed-line voice services, but it is less than the demand for MOB. Thus, under the present definition of POTS as a universal service, FTTH could be considered as a basic telecommunication service.     

The Pacific Islands. Policy options for telecommunications investment

The Independent Commission for World-Wide Telecommunications Development (Maitland Commission) reported that telecommunication networks, including public telephone systems, are an infrastructure which aids economic development throughout the world. The Commissions objective is to bring the majority of the world's population within easy access of a telephone and, in time, other communications services. Development in the Pacific Islands region is slowed by a lack of efficient communications. The islands are spread over 29 million square kilometers of ocean and extremely vulnerable to natural disasters. Pacific Island Nations (PINs) have problems of foreign exchange, skill shortages, and poor credit terms. Telecommunications infrastructure audits showed the overall regional teledensity of 3 telephones per 100 population. The individual countries vary form 8.3 in Fiji to 1.5 in Papua New Guinea and 25.2 in New Zealand. The population of the developing island countries is in mostly rural areas where there is a chronic shortage of telephones. The constraints on radio systems can be overcome with satellite technology. The new technologies are coming on the market faster than these countries can afford to handle them. By using satellite technology and sharing facilities PINs can greatly reduce the cost of telecommunications systems. Fiber optic cables will be used to carry large volumes of traffic over major routes while satellites can be used for a array of services for the smallest PIN nation to the largest route rim country. Work is being done to standardize the equipment specifications and to develop policies for the coordination of regional telecommunications training. To further facilitate communications development in this area, changes need to be made in international funding priorities for development, and recommendations by the Maitland Commission must be taken seriously.     

Aspects of innovation: Public policy issues in telecommunications development

The author considers the potential for innovation in various telecommunication technologies. Unfamiliar concepts may be generated by the introduction of a new technology, the uses of technology, abuses and their consequences, and cross-fertilisation with other fields. After discussing possible futures, he analyses the implications of a general model of change associated with the introduction of a major technology, and concludes by stressing the urgent need for research aimed at anticipating desirable and undesirable impacts.     

Critical factors for the expansion of broadband in developing countries: The case of Peru

Many studies have been made on the diffusion and development of broadband, however there are few published studies on the critical factors for advancing broadband services in developing countries. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to understand and identify the critical success factors for the development of broadband services in a developing country context, using the case of Peru. In this regard, this study uses data collected from interviews with Peruvian telecommunications professionals, policy makers and regional telecommunication experts, which is supplemented by official reports and statistical data to determine the critical success factors for broadband in this country. The four factors derived are; (i) expand the availability of infrastructure, (ii) define a national broadband policy that aligns the interests of stakeholders, (iii) develop effective competition in the broadband market, and (iv) stimulate the demand for broadband services. Through a MACTOR analysis the authors found that the objectives of sharing infrastructure, the further deployment of infrastructure and the development of competition in the market for broadband services are those that generate the most divergence between actors. Additionally, the MACTOR analysis determined that no disagreement existed for the objectives related to demand stimulation. Thus, four proposals are offered for the development of Peruvian broadband. The results are relevant for academics and policy makers interested broadband development in developing countries and for rural areas of developed countries.     

Regulatory factors influencing Internet access in Australia and China: a comparative analysis

Internet access is determined by a combination of a widely available telecommunication infrastructure and affordability of Internet services, which are closely related to government policies (IT Group. (1999). Like other countries, both Australia and China have considered the Internet a powerful tool for national development economically and socially. As Internet growth becomes more and more significant, it becomes important to address the extent to which the underlying communication policies influence current growth rates.This paper provides a comparative review of policy approaches to regulating the Internet in both China and Australia. This study aims to identify the regulatory factors affecting Internet access in terms of availability and affordability, especially those factors which encourage the creation of a policy and regulatory environment favourable to the development of Internet infrastructure and access.This paper examines the linkages between regulatory regimes, market environments and Internet access in both China and Australia. The preliminary result suggests that government policies governing the telecommunications service market and promoting information infrastructure have a significant impact on the affordability and availability of Internet access. The most significant factor is the level of competition permitted in the telecommunication sector. It has become clear that further regulatory initiatives such as deregulatory mechanisms and interconnection regimes are needed to establish a more competitive environment for Internet access in both countries, and more particularly in China.