电信添翼

大夏天的,你非常非常想吃冰激淋;走到大街上,却怎么也找不到一家卖冰激淋的商店。执着的你走遍了大街,终于找到了一家卖冰激淋的商店,标价不是一般的贵。但是,这个时候的你已经顾不上那么多了,     

Network policy formation between idealist and strategic models: a political economy perspective from Turkey

Two models of telecom reform, the Idealist and the Strategic, can be applied to the network policy formation process. The Idealist model, which is manifested in the rhetoric of the emerging global governance regime of telecommunication networks, amounts to a policy of exclusion in developing countries not only in the sense of teledensity, but also regarding the network policy formation process as well. The scope of the policy sphere has been reduced to purportedly competitive markets ignoring socio-economic development, the economy as a whole, local production and technology capabilities, research and development, innovation systems and the potential for using markets as instruments. Disconnecting long-range planning of the government and “independent regulator's” policies can be added to the list of excluded possibilities. Based on Turkey's experience, the strategic model is more appropriate both for understanding the formation of network policies and for designing participatory policy formation mechanisms. As the number of agents involved in the policy formation process diversifies and increases in the true sense, outcomes more closely resemble a Strategic approach. Thus, in trying to understand network policy formation, a new dimension should be added to the Strategic/Idealist dichotomy: top–down or participatory.     

China’s telecommunications evolution,institutions, and policy issues on the eve of 5G: A two-decade retrospect and prospect

Over the past two decades, China’s telecommunications industry has witnessed drastic market reform, steadfast institutionalization, and volatile technological changes, which have driven exponential industry expansion. This paper offers an updated longitudinal and comprehensive review on this reform process on the eve of 5G (the fifth generation mobile communications networks). First, the paper segments the two-decade reform crusade into discernible phases, each of which is embedded with different policy drives. These reform phases are then pattern-matched against the subtleties of the overall institutional, technological, and market backdrop. A series of policy issues are identified through a systematic examination of industry phenomena over the reform course. Finally, the status of research is assessed regarding China’s telecom industry and reform, based on which, knowledge gaps are identified and future research agenda suggested. Conclusions are made regarding future reform and research imperatives. The paper advances the understanding of China’s telecom reform, development, and the underlying policy issues. It updates and expands previous works on similar topics. Overall, this study provides important theoretical, managerial, and policy implications.     

Good intentions,poor outcomes: Telecommunications reform in South Africa

As the first decade of democratic rule draws to a close in South Africa, this paper reviews the telecommunications reform process in terms of the performance of the sector against the twin national policy objectives of affordable access to communications services and accelerated development to meet the needs of a modern economy. It critiques the implementation of international reform models which have in practice tended to emphasise privatisation at the expense of other reform mechanisms—including competition and, in particular, regulatory measures. It argues that this has impacted negatively on affordable access and has inhibited market innovation.This paper identifies the root of the problem as the market structure. Designed around the vertically integrated incumbent operator, it induces inherently anti-competitive impertives that demands a resource-intensive regulatory response. The regulator has often not had the statutory powers, and seldom the capacity, to circumscribe the behaviour of the incumbent so that it does not impact negatively on new entrants. Without effective regulation, the assumed benefits of liberalisation—including more affordable access through improved management of the incumbent and more efficient allocation of resources in the market through competition—do not materialise.The paper argues that developing country telecommunications markets demand more from a regulator than simply meeting the threshold requirements of transparency and predictability via so-called international “best practice” models. Such a limited approach will not be sufficient to meet the challenges facing most developing countries. The highly imperfect nature of developing country markets, and the enormous income disparities and inequities that exist, require strategic regulation. This is necessary to enable innovative service provision, especially to under-serviced areas, and to facilitate fair competitive markets that promote the viability of the new entrants needed to build the information infrastructure—the infrastructure necessary for a country's participation in the global network economy.Simply removing all market-entry restrictions, however, is likely to place an even more onerous burden on already-struggling regulators and is unlikely to contribute to universal access and other developmental goals. A new policy approach involving the fundamental restructuring of the market is needed to remove the anti-competitive incentives that exist in the vertically integrated market structure that generally accompanies privatisation in developing countries. While a more horizontally structured market will not remove the incumbent advantage entirely, it is likely to reduce the need for constant adjustment of anti-competitive behaviour on the part of the incumbent, freeing up regulatory resources for more strategic regulation towards achieving national developmental objectives.     

Moving targets: Introducing mobility into universal service obligations

Structural changes in the economies of developing countries are leading to increased mobility of work and family life, and so an accommodating set of universal service obligations (USOs) implies new goals that extend beyond wireline telephone penetration and access. Wireless telephony penetration frequently exceeds wireline penetration in developing countries, and digital wireless platforms can incorporate Internet technology. This paper evaluates the history of telecom development in Mexico that has led to wireless telephony becoming the new consumption norm. The study takes the eMexico project as a case study of diversified USOs beyond wireline telephony. It considers potential obstacles to incorporating mobile phone and Internet (“Wireless Web”) services into Mexico's diversified universal service policy, including economic barriers to political mobilization over issues of telecom policy.     

Merger simulation using average market share: An application to the Optimus-TMN mobile merger case

This paper develops a new merger simulation methodology based on the analysis of the performance change of a hypothetical firm with average market share. It applies the methodology to the Optimus-TMN mobile telecom merger case in Portugal, within the context of the December 2006 decision by the Portuguese Competition Authority to authorize the merger between their respective parent companies, Sonaecom and Portugal Telecom. The results suggest that the Optimus-TMN merger would have resulted in 3.8% higher prices and 14.9% lower marginal costs, and would have been welfare-enhancing. These findings attest to the importance of the “efficiency defense” hypothesis of mergers. They suggest that competition authorities are warranted in allowing further consolidation in the telecom sector, but that consolidation should be accompanied by strict retail price-cap regulation.     

The telecommunications divide among Indian states

Using data for 16 major states in India from 2001 to 2015, this paper examines the patterns, distribution dynamics, and the drivers of telecommunications (telecom) services across different states. We apply both parametric and nonparametric econometric techniques to study the distribution dynamics of telecom services across the states. Further, we employ the generalised method of moment (GMM) to examine the determinants of telecommunications services in India. Our results indicate that the interstate gap in telecommunications services has been declining over time and there is a tendency for convergence in teledensity towards the national average. The regression analysis suggests that per capita income and network externality are significant determinants of teledensity across states in India. Furthermore, literacy rate and relative size of the service sector are independently significant predictors of teledensity. If we consider rural and urban areas separately, there are some important differences. For example, while the interstate gaps in telecom services in rural areas seem to have declined, there is little evidence of such a tendency in urban areas. However, the regression results with respect to the importance of per capita income and network externality for telecom services are robust to the rural-urban divide and to the inclusion of additional explanatory variables. The findings of this study have important policy implications.     

Diversification strategies in network-based services: The case of mobile virtual network operators

This paper aims at discussing the entry process and competitive strategies of MVNOs in Italy and France. It illustrates the features of competition in a sector – the mobile telecom service industry – which is characterized by market saturation and demand heterogeneity. In doing so, it looks at the characteristics of the two countries in terms of competition and entry of new operators, at the motivations behind the entry of MVNOs, and at the performance of different companies. Results show that the most successful MVNOs are those characterized by the ability to find a perfect match between their core competencies (large network management, strong brand reputation) and the needs of specific segments of demand that had not been previously fulfilled. In this context, companies with ICT network management skills, whether coming from the telecom sector or from other network-based service industries such as postal operators, have been particularly successful in the market. From a policy perspective, despite the failure of some MVNOs, customers have benefited from the increased competition between MNOs and MVNOs in terms of range of service offerings and prices.     

The spectrum policy reform paving the way to cognitive radio enabled spectrum sharing

The increasing amount of data and video traffic carried by mobile networks has recently risen the demand for enhanced network capacity, more efficient use and more effective management of spectrum. Cognitive radio technologies candidate to respond to these urgent needs by allowing a near simultaneous band sharing. The regulation plays a crucial role in promoting the adoption of these technologies, in order to overcome the traditional paradigms of authorizations for exclusive spectrum usage. The article outlines spectrum management regimes where the implementation of frequency sharing technologies, including cognitive technologies, is foreseeable and brings them back to a comprehensive taxonomy of dynamic spectrum access and sharing models, in the effort to reconcile partially diverging approaches and nomenclatures suggested in literature. Theoretic analysis is supported by a number of illustrations and practical experiments with shared spectrum usage. Based on suggested taxonomy, the research aims at showing the evolutionary path toward the introduction and spreading of cognitive and other spectrum sharing technologies, pointing out relevant trends and instruments made available by the reform of EU Telecom Package, as well as at outlining the status of regulation, policy and standardization in Europe.     

Re-forming the state: telecom liberalization in India

A fundamental problem in the new strategies of telecom development is attracting private investment for network expansion. Following the insights of institutional economists, and from evidence gained through the case study of the telecom liberalization process in India, this paper contends that the success of private investment depends on the creation of a regulatory mechanism that provides ‘credible commitment’—that is, provides both a set of rules and regulations that ensure prospective private investors a reasonable return on investment, as well as a governance mechanism that insures them against the possibility of arbitrary governmental discretion. The problems of the liberalization process in the telecom sector in India reflect the failure to institute such a regulatory regime. Following a process of macro-economic liberalization in 1991, India adopted the New Telecom Policy (NTP) in 1994, opening up the basic telecom sector to foreign investment. The implementation of NTP, however, was marked by a series of conflicts and controversies, resulting in extensive litigation and conflict between the Department of Telecommunications and the private operators, and erosion of investor confidence. These problems of implementation represent a problem of institutional change associated with a fundamental shift in the institutional regime, from one based on a high level of discretionary power on the part of state actors, to institutions based on transparency, accountability, expertise and insulation from the political process.     

中国产业区社会基础设施发展分析

社会基础设施是基础设施发展到一定阶段的必然产物。文章通过统计数据、分类图表分析,认为：改革开放以后,中国产业区的社会基础设施得到了快速发展;同时也存在着各个产业区之间发展不平衡加剧,经济性社会基础设施与公益性社会性基础设施发展不对称等问题。并针对存在的问题提出了解决的措施。     

中国产业区社会基础设施发展分析

社会基础设施是基础设施发展到一定阶段的必然产物。文章通过统计数据、分类图表分析,认为：改革开放以后．中国产业区的社会基础设施得到了快速发展;同时也存在着各个产业区之间发展不平衡加剧,经济性社会基础设施与公益性社会性基础设施发展不对称等问题。并针对存在的问题提出了解决的措施。     

Leveraging the EU regulatory framework to improve a layered policy model for US telecommunications markets

What is the best way to overhaul the current telecommunications legislative framework in the United States? This is an ongoing debate among telecom policy analysts and many others affected by the legacy of regulatory compromises that govern US telecommunications (and related information and media) industry sectors. This paper compares a Layered Model for US telecommunications policy with the regulatory framework adopted by the European Union. Both approaches focus on service characteristics rather than underlying technological traits.¹ It becomes clear that the Layered Model could be adopted to move away from sector-specific regulation, and could successfully use conventional market analysis criteria.     

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.     

Take your partners: Public private interplay in Australian and New Zealand plans for next generation broadband

Within a few days of each other in early 2009, the national governments of Australia and New Zealand announced separate plans to invest heavily in advanced broadband networks. Taxpayers in each country will contribute at least half the estimated cost of fibre-to-the-premises networks reaching the overwhelming majority of households and businesses within 8–10 years. These complex and controversial forms of ‘public private interplay’ demonstrate three trends: a shift away from the liberalization and privatization policy consensus of the last two decades; shared convictions about the anticipated size of fast broadband’s economic and social benefits, and about the need for wholesale-only fixed line network operation to maximize those benefits; and the unlikely impact of the global financial and economic crisis in stimulating investment in particular infrastructures seen as critical to the national economies that emerge from it. This article discusses industry structures and regulation in Australia and New Zealand, their long history of public investment in telecommunications and the recent popularity of public private partnerships (PPPs) with Australian state governments. It outlines the ambitious broadband plans and surveys their prospects. Like so many other policy actions following the global economic crisis, these are distinctively national responses to internationally shared challenges.     

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.     

The public incumbent's defeat in mobile competition: Implications for the sequencing of telecommunications reform

Within a mere 5 years of market competition, the mobile communications sector in Taiwan has exceeded a 100% penetration rate, currently ranking near the top of the world. In an even more stunning development, the public incumbent, Chunghwa Telecom, has handed the leadership status to a market entrant, Taiwan Cellular Corp., despite phenomenal mobile communications growth. This paper explores the factors that hamstrung Chunghwa Telecom in competition against its rival entrants. Our econometric analysis substantiates the fact that handset subsidies are the most effective instrument for mobile firms to gain market share. Chunghwa Telecom, due to its public ownership status, was nevertheless prohibited at first from adopting such a marketing strategy.The empirical results provided in this paper indeed pinpoint the importance of the sequencing of reform mandates in developing telecommunications: a prolonged privatization could help to promote competition in the industry. Public ownership makes Chunghwa Telecom vulnerable to political intervention and operational inefficiency, which is a barricade to performance and competitiveness for the not-yet-privatized company in a liberalized market. Taiwan's case presents an interesting deviation from conventional development theories, while it deserves scrutiny as it paves a shortcut to successful implementation of telecommunication reform in a timely fashion.     

Demand for telecommunication services in developing countries

Living standards and economic growth in developing countries are invariably linked to the availability and use of telecom services. Effective policy decisions require the best estimates of the drivers of these services. In this paper, telecommunications demand is estimated in models for residential mainline and mobile telephone service for developing countries for the period 1996–2003. The paper tests for cross-price effects between mainline and mobile service and its findings have important policy implications. It finds residential monthly price elasticity to be insignificant for developing countries, but the connection elasticity is larger than generally found in the literature. Mobile monthly price elasticities are very large. A new and important empirical finding is that although wireline phones are substitutes in the mobile market, the contrary is not true—mobile phones are not substitutes in the wireline market, and in fact may be considered complements. This lack of symmetry has important implications for properly defining telecom markets. Universal service subsidies and competitive market initiatives should be reevaluated in light of the paper's elasticity estimates. Increased competition, income growth and enhanced education may be the ultimate universal service promoters.     

新常态下的创新驱动——对创新服务体系的认识

党 的十八届五中全会报告指出，坚持创新发展，必须把创新摆在国家发展全局的核心位置，不 断推进理论创新、制度创新、科技创新、文化创新等各方面创新。我国经济发展进入了新常 态阶段，认识新常态、适应新常态、引领新常态，是当前和今后一个时期我国经济发展的大 逻辑。改革开放30年来，我国的创新能力有了大幅度提高，但是仍存在影响创新能力发展的 诸多障碍，尤其是创新服务体系还严重缺失。我国在加快科技与经济融合的进程中，需要重 视创新服务体系建设，把发展基点放在创新上，形成促进创新的体制架构。在大众创业、万 众创新的大形势下，打造创新创业集成服务商，支持创新平台、孵化载体建设，促进专业创 新服务机构的发展。     

Paradoxical impact of asymmetric regulation in Taiwan's telecommunications industry: Restriction and rent seeking

The mobile penetration rate in Taiwan has climbed from 6.86 to 112.15. Mobile phone accounts per 100 capita in the first 6 years of market competition, during this time the state-owned incumbent Chunghua Telecom has been dethroned by a new entrant, Taiwan Cellular Corp. This paper addresses the cause of Taiwan's unprecedented mobile growth, and provides policy solutions for countries that strive to improve their telecommunications sectors in a short time scale. The authors highlight the fundamental role of asymmetric regulation, rather than pure liberalization, in the creation of the deregulated telecommunications industry in Taiwan. The asymmetric regulation in Taiwan is manifested in a twofold framework: the dominant carrier vs. competitors, and the fixed-line carrier vs. mobile companies. Econometric analysis concludes that dualistic asymmetric regulation leads to higher growth for mobile competitors and raises the total mobile penetration rate. However, the authors warn against the paradoxical consequences of dualistic asymmetric regulation. The regulatory benefits which mobile entrants received evolved into rents when they successfully lobbied to end the follow-me call service, the pricing scheme of which contradicts the asymmetric revenue-sharing constraint. The paper calls for a sunset clause for dualistic asymmetric regulation in order to take full advantage of its strengths, while at the same time preventing rent seeking by the firms, which benefit.