Beyond broadcasting: the digital future of public service broadcasting

This article looks at the impact of digitization on television. Early treatments of digital television (DTV) have become outdated by technical and market developments. This paper reviews these developments and reconsiders the public policy and regulatory issues surrounding DTV, particularly with respect to public service broadcasting in Europe. Convergence trends are examined and we find that it happens, but differently than expected. This raises serious doubts concerning whether current models and conceptualizations of public service broadcasting can address future challenges of pluralism and diversity if they remain constrained by traditional understandings of broadcasting.     

Explaining Internet Connectivity

This article provides a framework by which rival firms' incentives for interconnection in unregulated telecommunications markets may be analyzed and argues that the widespread voluntary interconnection observed among Internet service providers (ISPs) is anomalous when compared with examples of other similar markets from U.S. industrial history. However, the fact that it is anomalous provides an opportunity to test common explanations and to explore new explanations for the remarkable connectivity observed among ISPs through a comparative analysis. The comparative analysis reveals that (1) network effects and competitive forces in telecommunications markets will not necessarily drive firms to interconnect their networks voluntarily as there are other options to them, and (2) government actions played an important role in shaping the interconnection behavior competing firms in telecommunications markets. The article then explores some of the implications of these findings for telecommunications policy, and interconnection regulation in particular.     

Telecommunications in rural America: An appraisal and a prediction

Abstract

Rural America has historically been plagued with a disproportionate shortage of health, education, and other public services. However, the application of rapidly changing telecommunications technologies can alleviate many of the problems associated with these isolated and “technologically undernourished” areas. Technologies such as low‐power television, direct broadcast satellites, and satellite‐fed cable services offer the opportunity for building a rural telecommunications network and thus improving services and the quality of life. However, in order for this goal to be realized, the economic constraints presented by insufficient consumer demand and unprofitable markets must be overcome. Direct government subsidization or increased support of projects may be necessary to encourage the private sector to increase investment in telecommunications facilities in rural communities.     

Turning loose the invisible hand: New Zealand's information technology policy

Abstract

Information technology (IT) policy in New Zealand has closely paralleled the broader economic policies that have prevailed in the country. Until the mid‐1980s, economic policy was inwardly oriented, marked by high trade barriers and heavy government regulation. In 1984, the Labor government responded to a balance of payments crisis with a radical program of economic liberalization. By the end of the decade, this process had fundamentally altered the New Zealand economy through deregulation, privatization, and public sector reform.

IT policy likewise moved from protectionism and centralized control to almost pure laissez faire. Tariffs on computer hardware were lowered from 40% to 10%. Government computing was moved from a central data processing bureau and placed under the control of individual departments. In terms of IT production, the government has refused to provide any significant incentives or subsidies to the fledgling software industry, feeling the industry should succeed or fail on its own.

Under laissez faire policies, New Zealand has become a heavy user of IT, ranking behind only Japan in the Asia‐Pacific region for IT spending as a percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). It has also had some success as a producer and exporter of software. However, the hands‐off approach to the industry is likely to prove problematic in an international environment in which many countries have explicit strategies to improve their infrastructure for IT production and/or directly subsidize the industry. New Zealand is unlikely to become a hardware producer, but it has a number of endowments favoring software production, particularly its well‐educated, English‐speaking workforce. However, it faces obstacles, such as a small domestic market, distance from international markets, and a shortage of venture capital. Although software may be a potential growth industry in the ailing New Zealand economy, it is unclear whether the industry can thrive without at least some government support. Even the government now seems to be considering this possibility, and is considering the creation of an IT unit within the Ministry of Commerce.     

Contributors to this issue

Abstract

Proposed changes to the Australian cross‐media regulation prohibiting common ownership of commercial free‐to‐air television and radio services and daily newspapers in the same market and their likely impact on diversity of opinion are evaluated in this paper. The analysis indicates that the replacement of the cross‐media rules with a minimum number of voices rule will lead to increased concentration of main media and reduced diversity. There is little evidence that the Internet and other new media are significantly displacing traditional media as independent sources of opinion in the domestic market. Also, the proposed number of voices rule is assessed as a largely ineffective and inefficient regulation. Consequently, the paper concludes that while abolition of the cross‐media rules might be an appropriate objective in the longer term, the proposed changes are likely to have undesirable effects on diversity of opinion in the immediate future.     

Appropriate high tech: Scientific communication options for small third world countries

Abstract

Information and communication technologies have transformed the nature of scientific communication. This article examines the suitability of print, microform, online, and CD'ROM technologies for providing access to scientific serials by Third World scientists. Findings from an investigation of the technological and institutional options available to the scientific information system of Sri Lanka, a small country with a poor telecommunications infrastructure, are reported. Online is found most appropriate, principally due to the presence of a small number of scientists with a broad range of interests which makes the fixed‐price regimes of the other modes disadvantageous. Policy responses, including the setting up of an online information bureau to gradually build up domestic and international communication levels to justify the introduction of internal and external data communication facilities, are discussed. The recommendations are user‐centered and emphasize the need for continuous monitoring of technological and market options and flexibility of response on the part of peripheral players in the information market.     

The Digital Future of Terrestrial Advertiser-supported Television 1

The digital transmission of signals greatly increases the channel carrying capacity of the broadcast spectrum and provides scope for a substantial increase in the number of television channels transmitted terrestrially in each broadcasting market. A simple model of a hypothetical advertiser-supported television market shows that with increased channel numbers the average audience size for programmes and channels will decline, advertising revenue per channel will decline, programme costs per audience member will increase, and average profit per channel will decline. In practice, with digital terrestrial television the number of new channels licensed will continue to be subject to government regulatory decisions. But even with liberalisation of licensing policy, the economics of advertiser-supported television broadcasting will impose severe limitations on the number of new channels that any market can support. Digital interactive television services offer commercial broadcasters the prospect of a new source of revenue. The financial viability of these services, however, is not yet proven. Another unknown factor is the impact that personal video recorders will have on television advertising revenues. The transition from analogue to digital terrestrial transmission will have wide-ranging effects on commercial television viewing, but probably not on the structure and ownership of the television broadcasting industry.     

我国电信服务业的市场结构优化研究

电信服务业对我国经济发展发挥着重要的推动作用,而高垄断性的市场结构制约着电信服务业的发展.本文首先分析电信服务业的整体现状及市场构成,重点分析电信服务业市场结构的现状,在此基础上提出优化我国电信服务业市场结构的对策.     

Socioeconomic Implications of Telecommunications Liberalization: India in the International Context

Telecommunications restructuring have evolved differently in Asia and Latin America. While Asian governments have moved cautiously in bringing changes to the sector, Latin American nations have implemented radical ownership and market transformations. The Indian telecommunications reform falls in between these two general regional trends. The choice of a high component of competition, increased private participation, and no privatization of the national carrier set conditions that will trigger unique socioeconomic effects. This article identifies and highlights the likely implications of the Indian reform on key economic and social issues, such as the cost of services, cross-subsidies, network interconnection, private investments, universal services, employment, and the possible rise of an information-intensive economy. It does so by comparing and contrasting the Indian experience with dominant reform strategies elsewhere in the developing world.     

Mobile message services and communications policy

Something of a design after‐thought, mobile phone SMS (Short‐Message Services) have been enthusiastically adopted by consumers worldwide, who have created a new text culture. SMS is now being deployed to provide a range of services and transactions, as well as playing a critical role in offering an interactive path for television broadcasting. In this paper we offer a case study of a lucrative, new industry developing internationally at the intersection of telecommunications, broadcasting, and information services—namely, premium rate SMS/MMS. To explore the issues at stake we focus on an Australian case study of policy responses to the development of premium rate mobile messaging services in the 2002–2005 period. In the first part, we give a brief history of premium rate telecommunications. Secondly, we characterise premium rate mobile message services and examine their emergence. Thirdly, we discuss the responses of Australian policy‐makers and industry to these services. Fourthly, we place the Australian experience in international context, and indicate common issues. Finally, we draw some conclusions from the peregrinations of mobile message services for regulators grappling with communications policy frameworks.     

孵化器税收优惠政策的传导效应评估

本文认为孵化器的政策绩效需要从政策对创新孵化服务的激励效益和孵化服务对在孵化企业的扶持效益两个方面来评价,提出多层传导的孵化器政策绩效评估框架,并采用2008-2012年孵化器税收优惠政策执行情况调研数据,通过三阶段联立方程组模型,实证考察孵化器税收优惠政策的传导效应。结果显示,孵化器所能享受到的税收优惠力度存在地区差异,税收优惠政策有效激励了孵化器所提供的场地及技术人员等基础服务,但对投融资服务和社会网络服务的激励效应不显著。而后者是影响在孵企业创新绩效的更重要因素,因此未来政策导向需要从基础服务转向对孵化器投融资服务、社会网络服务和创业辅导的激励。     

Universal Service from the Bottom Up: A Study of Telephone Penetration in Camden,New Jersey

Ethnographic methods and geographic information systems were used to investigate the extent, causes and consequences of telephone disconnection in Camden, NJ. The results have significant implications for public policies intended to promote universal telephone penetration. Universal service is usually perceived as an issue for rural areas and the elderly, but the most extensive pockets of low telephone penetration are found in inner cities, where the problem is associated with the young, the transient, and ethnic minorities. The basic monthly rate paid by subscribers is usually thought to be the most important factor affecting affordability, but the data suggest that most marginal users are driven off the network by usage-related costs, and more generally by the problem of credit-worthiness. Given prevailing consumption patterns in low-income urban areas, ''electronic redlining'' seems less of a threat than that poor Americans will, upon exposure to the advanced features of the national information infrastructure (NII), buy services that they cannot afford. Intellectuals and policy analysts value telephone service more than cable television service, but residents of inner cities frequently do not agree with this evaluation. In reformulating universal service policy, we must take account of the growing heterogeneity of telecommunications services, and keep in mind the importance of credit risk as a factor affecting the public's ability to access and use telecommunication networks.     

Universal Service from the Bottom Up: A Study of Telephone Penetration in Camden, New Jersey

Ethnographic methods and geographic information systems were used to investigate the extent, causes and consequences of telephone disconnection in Camden, NJ. The results have significant implications for public policies intended to promote universal telephone penetration. Universal service is usually perceived as an issue for rural areas and the elderly, but the most extensive pockets of low telephone penetration are found in inner cities, where the problem is associated with the young, the transient, and ethnic minorities. The basic monthly rate paid by subscribers is usually thought to be the most important factor affecting affordability, but the data suggest that most marginal users are driven off the network by usage-related costs, and more generally by the problem of credit-worthiness. Given prevailing consumption patterns in low-income urban areas, 'electronic redlining' seems less of a threat than that poor Americans will, upon exposure to the advanced features of the national information infrastructure (NII), buy services that they cannot afford. Intellectuals and policy analysts value telephone service more than cable television service, but residents of inner cities frequently do not agree with this evaluation. In reformulating universal service policy, we must take account of the growing heterogeneity of telecommunications services, and keep in mind the importance of credit risk as a factor affecting the public's ability to access and use telecommunication networks.     

Dimensions of concern over telecommunications privacy in the United States

Abstract

Analyses of attitudes and concerns about privacy from a national survey sample of 1,532 adult Americans in 1988 revealed several separate dimensions. A modification of Tryon's method of clustering variables (third‐order correlations) yielded groups of variables whose meanings were much more interpretable than they had been when factor analysis was initially used. We tested the validity of the clustering by a highly comprehensive system of item analyses. The main findings were that (1) respondent concerns over telephone privacy were not related to other aspects of privacy, (2) interest in devices like Caller ID that enable recipients to know the number of the caller were not related to other aspects of telephone privacy, and (3) general privacy concerns under conditions where the respondent and the other party know each other were independent of those conditions where they do not know each other. Implications for telecommunications policy and new services are discussed.     

Communication Gone Wired: Working Toward a "Practiced" Cyberfeminism

Abstract

Numerous environmental forces exist today that contribute to changing industry and market segments. The least studied of these is the impact of information systems which transcend traditional company boundaries. One of the subtle impacts of contemporary developments in information systems technology is the redefinition of traditional organizational and industrial boundaries. Examples of these interorganizational systems (referred to as IOS), reviewed by the author, imply that a wide range of organizations may have an opportunity to use these systems to improve their operations, services to their customers, and their competitive position.

Some of these systems raise public policy issues that are not well understood, nor are they being addressed in a comprehensive manner. This article is designed to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about these systems.     

Privacy in (mobile) Telecommunications Services

Telecommunications services are for long subject to privacy regulations. At stake are traditionally: privacy of the communication and the protection of traffic data. Privacy of the communication is legally founded. Traffic data subsume under the notion of data protection and are central in the discussion. The telecommunications environment is profoundly changing. The traditionally closed markets with closed networks change into an open market with open networks. Within these open networks more privacy sensitive data are generated and have to be exchanged between growing numbers of parties. Also telecommunications and computer networks are rapidly being integrated and thus the distinction between telephony and computing disappears. Traditional telecommunications privacy regulations are revised to cover internet applications. In this paper telecommunications issues are recalled to aid the on-going debate. Cellular mobile phones have recently be introduced. Cellular networks process a particular category of traffic data namely location data, thereby introducing the issue of territorial privacy into the telecommunications domain. Location data are bound to be used for pervasive future services. Designs for future services are discussed and evaluated for their impact on privacy protection.Parts of this paper have been presented at Ubicomp 2002 in Goteborg and E-CAP 2003 in Glasgow.     

Explaining Internet Connectivity

This article provides a framework by which rival firms' incentives for interconnection in unregulated telecommunications markets may be analyzed and argues that the widespread voluntary interconnection observed among Internet service providers (ISPs) is anomalous when compared with examples of other similar markets from U.S. industrial history. However, the fact that it is anomalous provides an opportunity to test common explanations and to explore new explanations for the remarkable connectivity observed among ISPs through a comparative analysis. The comparative analysis reveals that (1) network effects and competitive forces in telecommunications markets will not necessarily drive firms to interconnect their networks voluntarily as there are other options to them, and (2) government actions played an important role in shaping the interconnection behavior competing firms in telecommunications markets. The article then explores some of the implications of these findings for telecommunications policy, and interconnection regulation in particular.     

Global and National Factors Affecting E-Commerce Diffusion in Singapore

This article provides a broad overview of the likely global/regional contextual factors and unique national characteristics that influence e-commerce diffusion in Singapore. Our analysis suggests that Singapore is likely to be a very fast adopter of e-commerce applications that have relatively proven business models in other advanced countries. In particular, advanced manufacturing clusters in Singapore with strong global supply chain links to advanced countries (especially electronics), logistics and transportation services, and other global market-oriented, business-to-business (B2B) industries are likely to be the most aggressive in adopting e-commerce applications. In contrast, we predict that Singapore will be less likely to innovate new e-commerce technologies or pioneer revolutionary e-commerce applications with radical global impacts, due to the small local market and the inadequate development of an information and communications technologies (ICT) entrepreneurial community with extensive network links to Silicon Valley and other entrepreneurial hot spots. Singapore is also unlikely to be a leader in large-scale business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce applications and mass consumer contents publishing. Our review of government policy initiatives to promote e-commerce suggests that although they are by and large in the right direction, they are unlikely to have significant impact until proven e-commerce models have emerged and competitive pressure start to be felt by companies. A possible exception is "e-government" applications. In contrast, we identify a number of areas where government policy initiatives have been a bit slow, notably in liberalizing the telecommunications services sector and in promoting technology entrepreneurship. Our review of the available empirical evidence on recent e-commerce diffusion trend and pattern in Singapore appears to be consistent with this analysis.     

An End to Disabling Policies? Toward Enlightened Universal Service

This article argues that an enlightened, inclusive vision of universal service is possible by learning lessons from disability. Telecommunications policy has historically built in norms that needlessly exclude people who are regarded as having a disability and therefore being outside of the mainstream. Accordingly, universal service policies focus on availability and affordability of telecommunications services, rather than on their accessibility and functionality. The article shows how rethinking universal service through disability can lead to inclusive policies that benefit everybody.     

On Media Concentration and the Diversity Question

Abstract

Corporate mergers and the consolidation of ownership in the American communications arena have long been sources of concern. U.S. regulatory and antitrust policy traditionally attempted to secure a “diversity of voices” structurally, largely through rules regarding ownership. Although the meaning of diversity was always problematic and undertheorized, the Federal Communications Commission long set ceilings on the numbers of broadcast outlets any single person or corporation could own and enacted cross-ownership rules such as a prohibition against a corporation owning a newspaper and broadcast outlets in the same market. These rules, and the FCC's authority to make them, were upheld, occasionally even compelled, by the federal appellate courts. In the last 20 years, however, legal trends, in conjunction with political developments, have undermined the diversity rationales behind ownership rules and associated structural regulations of mass media. Paradoxically, even as media corporations are becoming larger and presumably more powerful, ownership regulations are being rescinded or struck down. This article explains this history. It concludes with a suggestion that the First Amendment metaphor of a marketplace of ideas is misplaced, and of how our thinking about media ownership and diversity might be better served by the metaphor of a mixed media system.