The influence of US foreign DBS policy on Indian DBS TV: a case study of policy transfer

By and large academics and professional analysts disagree over the efficacy of US Congressional fora to facilitate policy transfer in terms of influencing foreign countries to privatize their local and national markets. This study addresses the issue of policy transfer within the context of the Indian (direct broadcast satellite) DBS television regulatory framework. Specifically, a link is drawn between two particular US Congressional hearings of the early 1980s and a landmark Indian Bill enacted in 1997. The approach to demonstrating the link involves three distinct components. The first offers a brief background on India's DBS policy dynamics. The second presents a number of policy documents and fora which substantiate the strength of the relationship between the two mentioned US Congressional forums and the 1997 Indian Bill. The third offers a discussion of how policy transfer and convergence serve as useful analytical tools to assess why the two US policy fora may have been so effective in the Indian case. Policy transfer and convergence also have strong explanatory value in drawing insights into negotiating dynamics between US and Indian official representatives at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) during the last fifteen years over DBS trade issues.     

Local competition for telephone services

A policy discussion and overview of the development and scope of local exchange competition in U.S. Telecommunications markets is presented. The primary focus is on access and cable competition. In the future, we will see policies which encourage cable to enter telephone services, telephone companies to develop a video dialtone, and transportation networks which allow interexchange carriers to bypass the access charges of the local network. Regulatory policy needs to manage these competitive changes so that there is parity between the various service providers.     

Implications of deregulating satellite communications

Following the divestiture of AT&T, US policy makers have focused attention on means of increasing competition in international telecommunications markets. Several policy changes have been made by the FCC to deregulate international satellite communications. International concern has been aroused by the Reagan administration approval of alternative international satellite systems. INTELSAT and PTTs fear the systems will permit multinational corporations to bypass them, shifting the cost burden onto individual users and developing nations. While there are risks to be avoided, the potential effects of the private international satellite systems have been exaggerated by supporters and opponents.     

Cable television and competition : Theory, evidence and policy

There is currently widespread discussion in the USA of the merits of amending legislation to allow competition in the cable television market, notably from the telecommunications companies. This article explores what economic theory can contribute to this debate, and adduces empirical evidence on the effects of competition in the cable market where it presently exists. The authors conclude that blocking entry into cable, and indeed into telecommunications markets, is likely to be poor policy, and that increased competition would foster the development of an efficient modern broadband network.     

Functional separation in Swedish broadband market: Next step of improving competition

Technological development together with liberalization policy has led to competition in the telecommunications market. Broadband has been recognized as a driving force in the social and economic development of nations, and many countries have introduced policies and/or regulatory frameworks to improve competition in broadband markets. An evolution can be seen from the 1980s until the present day through open access to local loop unbundling to several degrees of separation including functional separation. There are several countries implementing functional separation such as the UK, Italy, Sweden and, recently the EU. It has been suggested that functional separation can be an effective policy for increasing competition in broadband markets under certain circumstances. Sweden has implemented functional separation by amending the Swedish Telecommunications Act in 2008 to include mandatory functional separation as one of the powers of the PTS, the Swedish telecommunications regulator. Although TeliaSonera, the incumbent fixed line operator decided to voluntarily separate part of their business, the amendments to the law were debated with arguments similar to the debates in the EU following the new regulatory framework implemented in 2009. Against this background, this paper provides an overview of the development of functional separation in the EU and European countries such as Sweden and the UK. The paper also provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of the implementation of functional separation. The evolution of functional separation in Sweden is explained and ends with a discussion of the implementation of functional separation in the Swedish broadband market.     

Evolving dairy markets in Asia: Recent findings and implications

This paper is an overview of important findings regarding the ongoing evolution of Asian dairy markets based on a series of new economic investigations. These investigations provide systematic empirical foundations to assess Asian dairy markets with their new consumption patterns, changing industries, and trade prospects under different domestic and trade policy regimes, with four case studies (China, India, Japan, and Korea), a prospective analysis of future regional patterns of consumption, and a policy analysis of trade liberalization of Asian dairy markets. The overview distills the findings of these new investigations and integrates them in the earlier economic literature; it draws policy implications, and identifies lessons for countries outside of Asia, especially for emerging exporters in Latin America.     

How will telecommunications bundles impact competition and regulatory analysis?

In this article, one makes two points about the impact of bundles on competition and regulatory policy. First, one argues that the growing importance of bundles requires an adjustment in the current framework of relevant product markets for individual services, and that the traditional tools of competition policy, namely the SSNIP test, can be adjusted to deal with these new circumstances. Second, one argues that the technological and behavioral changes, underlying the emergence of bundles, call for a shift of emphasis in regulatory policy from ensuring access to the incumbent’s fixed telecommunications network services to ensuring access to television content.     

Food policy reforms for sustainable agricultural development in Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan

Given the present conditions of demographic growth and the complicated transition toward market economies in Central Asia, the problems of food security and designing policies to achieve it without compromising economic growth are at the forefront of policy agendas in these countries. This paper reviews food policy reforms in Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan in the context of sustainable agricultural development. Analyzing the trends in the agricultural sector during the transition period, it identifies the major impacts of policy reforms on food security and enumerates future challenges for improving food security in these countries. It finds that despite the progress made in reforming their economies toward market-oriented ones, the three countries continue to face food insecurity to varying degrees. It concludes that there is an urgent need to further expand and deepen the reform process by enabling functioning land, labor, and financial markets.     

An unsung success story: A forty-year retrospective on U.S. communications policy

This paper looks back at forty years of U.S. communications policy, and concludes that all of the challenges that were salient when Telecommunications Policy published its first issue—the lack of competition in CPE, long distance, local telephone service, television networks, and multichannel video program distribution—have essentially been addressed. The other technology that has grown in importance since 1976—the Internet—is widely regarded as a raging success. Although no history is completely uniform, the past forty years illustrates the key considerations underlying the choice between whether to impose access regulations or whether to rely on facilities-based competition. Moreover, the paper considers the important role that U.S. courts have played in promoting competition and consumer welfare. In many cases, timely judicial intervention has forced regulators to retreat from positions that protected incumbents and limited competition. The paper concludes with outlooks on new issues and debates that will continue to arise.     

Open Entry and Local Telephone Rates: The Economics of IntraLATA Toll Competition

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 removes state-level legal and regulatory barriers to entry that previously have proscribed facilities-based interchange carriers from entering intraLATA toll markets. Traditionally, these markets have provided excess profits that local exchange companies ostensibly have used to subsidize local telephone rates. Elimination of these entry barriers, then, raises concern that the resulting intensification of competition will force unwanted local residential rate increases. In this paper, we critically examine the local-rate-increase question both theoretically and empirically. Our analysis finds no evidence that intraLATA toll competition will adversely affect local rates.     

NATIONAL TELEVISION AND THE MARKET FOR LOCAL PRODUCTS: THE CASE OF BEER*

Information technology lowers the cost of distributing information to dispersed consumers. Because national firms reap larger benefits from new media than firms serving only local consumers, media innovations may reduce the market for local products. This paper considers the effect of television on the market for local beer. Using market‐level data on television penetration, local breweries and brewery production from 1945–1960, results show that increases in television penetration are associated with fewer local breweries and less local beer production. The results indicate that the industrial organization of media markets can affect the structure of markets for local products.     

Net neutrality and market power: The case of South Africa

Net neutrality rules have been implemented in many developed countries, often in response to concerns over network operator market power and potential blocking or throttling of content. However, developing countries typically have significantly lower levels of internet penetration and usage. Market power in respect of internet access looks quite different given that mobile is the predominant means of connection and there are often three or more mobile operators. In South Africa, there is a quasi-monopoly in the paid satellite broadcasting market and broadband providers zero-rating content from third parties (such as Netflix) may bring about more competition. We test the main theories of harm arising in the net neutrality debate, including network operator market power and exclusion among content providers using data on the number of announced prefixes and peers and IP addresses and considering examples of bundling and zero-rating conduct by operators. We find that net neutrality rules are less likely to be required in South Africa and other developing countries and that strict enforcement of such rules could in fact hinder competition in markets for content, telecommunications networks and other related markets.     

我国聚乙烯工业的现状及发展

由于东南亚国家石油化工工业的发展，东南亚许多国家由净进口国变为净出口国，使中国聚烯烃市场感到了压力。近期东南亚国家的经济危机，加刷了在各大石化纷纷低价抛售石化品，大量的聚烯烃树脂涌入中国市场，使中国聚乙烯市场和生产厂家都受到了强烈的冲击。     

垂直合约与产业环境贸易政策——环境成本内部化及中国的策略选择

全球经济一体化背景下,发达国家利用环境贸易政策来实现竞争优势已经出现趋势。本文介绍了欧盟的环境贸易政策,基于环境贸易政策的背景,预设国内外上、下游企业之间已经构成一个产业链,应用Stephen F.Hamilton的垂直型结构模型,将数量竞争分为四种不同情况,给出了最大均衡供给量。分析表明,如果采用垂直合约,则数量竞争和价格竞争的最佳非合作环境政策均是庇古(Pigouvian)税。在国内下游出口商与上游进口品供应商能够达成合约的条件下,政府之间存在着非合作环境政策。因此,我国的产业环境贸易政策应当是努力实现环境成本的内部化。     

Versorgungssicherheit in der Erdgasversorgung

The current situation on the world energy markets is characterised by increasing prices and fierce competition in distribution. For this reason security of supply appears high on the energy policy and energy economic agenda. Not taking into account aspects of asymmetric distribution, the total world energy reserves are sufficient to meet the increasing demand within the next decades. The increasing regional separation of producing and consuming countries will lead to a further extension of interregional trade. Anyway, due to political and economical uncertainties in several producing countries the availability of the needed quantities will remain insecure. Becoming more cost-effective LNG is supposed to be an option for the future.To achieve the aim of a secure energy supply, the chosen strategy of upstream investments in producing countries shall be extended to other countries like Algeria and the CIS-Countries. However, upstream investments in producing countries are often restrained by other political interest. Removing these restrains is an issue of the governments of the consuming countries to ensure a free market access.     

Municipal electric utilities’ role in telecommunications services

Municipal electric utilities (MEUs) are increasingly expanding into telecommunications services. Such entry is interesting in several respects. First, MEUs marry two potential pathways for the growth of telecommunications access infrastructure and services: public ownership of last-mile facilities and electric power company expansion into telecommunications. Second, municipalities are key early adopters of next generation access technology in the form of both fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and broadband wireless (e.g., WiMax) systems. Third, MEUs are at the nexus of the debate over the proper role for local government in promoting broadband Internet access. Most homes in the United States are served by investor-owned local telephone and cable television providers, using company-owned wireline infrastructure. These providers have generally opposed municipal entry, arguing that it will crowd out private investment and represents an unfair and less efficient form of competition. A number of states have acted to limit—or in some cases—to promote such entry. Before engaging in this debate, it is necessary to have a clearer picture of the current state of municipal entry and the local demographic, cost, industry, and policy factors that influence its evolution. To address this need, this paper reports the results of an empirical analysis of MEUs that provide communications services to the public. This analysis shows that MEUs are more likely to offer such services if they also provide internal communication services to support their electric utility operations (scope economies); are relatively close to metropolitan areas (lower backhaul costs); are in markets with fewer competitive alternatives (cable modem and DSL service availability limited); and which are less encumbered by regulatory barriers to entry (in communities in states which do not restrict municipal entry into telecommunication services). Of these results, the competitive impacts are the least straight-forward to interpret, suggesting richer dynamics and avenues for further research.     

Dimensions of broadband policies and developments

There is a continuous discussion on the development and comparison of broadband infrastructures and broadband strategies of different countries and regions around the world. Is the US ahead of Europe, or is it the other way round, and how about East Asian countries? And, are there any policy reasons for it? The paper discusses three of the fundamental dimensions in broadband policies: Infrastructure vs. Service competition, regulatory vs. Developmental policies, and networks vs. Content prioritization. It examines the diverse combinations of these policy dimensions with respect to 7 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. The paper concludes that all three dimensions are found in the broadband policies of all the countries but that there are differences in the prominence of the dimensions in the individual countries.     

Obtaining global market access for GMPCS

Demand for wireless telephony is huge and the potential for GMPCS, in particular, is widely recognized. However, the most serious problems to the introduction of GMPCS are not technical, nor financial, but are rather the political and regulatory barriers—notably fear of bypass and security concerns. Inmarsat does not believe that there should be any a priori limit to the number of GMPCS operators offering satellite capacity to national service providers. The market can best determine which will be successful. However, before countries open their markets, they will need to be convinced that it is in their interest to do so.