Regulatory Reform and the Promise of New Telecommunications Infrastructure in New Jersey

The information superhighway is depicted as important to maintaining national competitiveness in a global economy. The concept is particularly evident in the state of New Jersey and its legislatively supported plan, Opportunity New Jersey, to deploy advanced telecommunications technologies to all homes and businesses in just 20 yr. This case study of the decision-making process behind the passage of the New Jersey legislation illustrates how telecommunications companies have worked to couple their desire for less regulation with the desire of state officials for economic development, by promising to upgrade the infrastructure of the public network. With the upgrade promise comes a hoped-for economic development payoff in education, through distance learning, in health care, through telemedicine, and especially in new jobs, by attracting information-intensive businesses, like finance and insurance, to relocate in their service areas. The lack of clear connection between infrastructure investments and economic development means that the twenty-first century will come before strategies such as this are proven.     

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.     

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.     

Leaving It Up to the Industry: People With Disabilities and the Telecommunications Act of 1996

This article examines whether Section 255 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act achieves accessibility for people with disabilities. Taking the interest group approach, it shows that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implemented Section 255 in a way that is favorable to the telecommunications industry and not to people with disabilities. The FCC's regulations only encourage the telecommunication industry to consider accessibility issues for people with disabilities. This proindustry regulatory bias is in keeping with the established pattern of policymaking in other areas concerning people with disabilities. The paper argues that if the FCC continues to rely on the voluntary efforts of the industry, people with disabilities will not enjoy benefits of access to telecommunications systems.     

Leveraging Sunken Investments in Communications Infrastructure: A Policy Perspective From the United States

Bridging the digital divide between information and technology haves and have-nots has waned from the top of the national policy agenda in the United States during a time in which the sunken investments of the 1990s need to be leveraged. A national information network now exists yet this infrastructure--largely hardware--needs to be continually modernized and parlayed with commitments to building human capacity, developing relevant content, and scaling socially beneficial technology applications, such as telemedicine, in order to optimize these initial multi-billion-dollar outlays. This article makes the case that sidestepping public-private initiatives aimed at accelerating digital opportunity is imprudent, given the mounting empirical evidence highlighting the payoffs of information and communications technologies, when properly integrated and applied, especially in enhancing the life chances of underserved Americans. Policy next steps should advance the goals of expanding universal service initiatives, including hastening broadband deployment to homes and learning institutions, and deepening programs which leverage the utility of the existing infrastructure, such as expanding human-capital development, producing relevant content, and innovating socially beneficial technology applications.     

Leveraging Sunken Investments in Communications Infrastructure: A Policy Perspective From the United States

Bridging the digital divide between information and technology haves and have-nots has waned from the top of the national policy agenda in the United States during a time in which the sunken investments of the 1990s need to be leveraged. A national information network now exists yet this infrastructure--largely hardware--needs to be continually modernized and parlayed with commitments to building human capacity, developing relevant content, and scaling socially beneficial technology applications, such as telemedicine, in order to optimize these initial multi-billion-dollar outlays. This article makes the case that sidestepping public-private initiatives aimed at accelerating digital opportunity is imprudent, given the mounting empirical evidence highlighting the payoffs of information and communications technologies, when properly integrated and applied, especially in enhancing the life chances of underserved Americans. Policy next steps should advance the goals of expanding universal service initiatives, including hastening broadband deployment to homes and learning institutions, and deepening programs which leverage the utility of the existing infrastructure, such as expanding human-capital development, producing relevant content, and innovating socially beneficial technology applications.     

国外电信业公私合作的做法及启示

在建设信息化社会的过程中,国外一些国家或地区电信业出现了政府部门重掌其发展规划、投资建议、并与私营部门合作经营的新趋势。本文介绍了荷兰、意大利、澳大利亚和新西兰电信业采用公私合作的做法,总结了国外电信业公私合作的特征,并结合中国电信业的现状,分析了国外电信业公私合作做法对中国电信业的启示,以期对中国的信息化建设提供借鉴。     

Telecommunications and Transnationalism: The Polarization of Social Space

This article critically assesses the policy orientation, social impacts, and linkages of telecommunications in the United States within a government deregulated policy environment and an increasingly globalized economy. Deregulation has been driven by both ideological and technological demands, stemming from several political and economic transformations in the world economy, the collapse of state socialism in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and greater oligopolistic competition among transnational corporations. An expanded infrastructure of new digital information and communications technology (ICT) is the foundation of a worldwide political economic regime of accumulation. ICT increases command and control capabilities of large corporations, together with the mobility and liquidity of capital, making it essential to the restructuring of the world economy, the new international division of labor, and the creation of global information city networks. At the same time, government deregulation and rapid technological change are associated with a number of spatial, economic, and social dualisms.     

Prospects for Expanded Universal Service in Europe: The Cases of Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway

In Europe, universal service developed within a public-service-oriented institutional framework. The historical conflicts that produced these institutional arrangements are still important for national policymaking. Furthermore, the level of technological development and integration in the European Union forms the context in which decisions concerning universal service are made. Our analysis of telecommunications policies in three small European countries - Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway - shows that business actors are well networked and press for a minimal definition of universal services, whereas those actors promoting an extended definition seem to be less coordinated and therefore less successful. Hence it is unlikely that universal services will be defined more extensively in the future.     

Networked Commerce: Public Policy Issues in a Deregulated Communication Environment

Electronic commerce will generate a number of new policy issues, few of which are presently being considered. Lawmakers and regulators have been so focused on establishing appropriate rules for vendors and service providers that they have failed to consider the larger consequences that the ensuing network architecture may have for the economy as a whole. Examining the forces driving electronic commerce and its likely impact on network deployment given recent telecom reform, this article argues that the government should reconsider common carriage as a means of assuring network access in the future.     

Social Equity and Prosperity: Thailand Information Technology Policy into the 21st Century

This forum presents Thailand's National Information Technology (IT) Plan and comments on the plan by three international experts: Seymour Goodman, Heinrich Reinermann, and G. Russell Pipe. The plan, which was prepared for Thailand's National IT Committee by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, is striking for its explicit consideration of social as well as economic goals in its specific objectives and implementation proposals. Agenda item 1 of the plan is to 'Invest in an Equitable Information Infrastructure: To Enhance Human Ability and Enhance Life Quality.' Implementation of the plan is proceeding well, although somewhat more slowly than anticipated, and support for the original goals and objectives remains strong.     

我国基础领域的管制与改革——以电力行业为例

介绍我国电力行业的管制改革方案并进行了评述,在此基础上提出了对我国电力行业进一步管制改革的建议,提出了放松对竞争性环节的进入管制,引入民营资本,在可竞争领域引入竞争机制;重建政府管制体系和控股企业引入职业经理人制度并建立激励约束机制的政策性建议,以提高我国对基础性产业的政府管制效率。     

我国保险监管政策改革与发展研究

随着经济一体化和金融全球化的趋势不断加强,我国保险业面临更多新的发展机遇,同时也对我国保险业的发展提出了严峻挑战。在我国保险业不断发展壮大的形势下,如何完善我国的保险监管政策,为我国保险业的安全、稳定、高效运行提供良好的制度保证和环境保证,已成为当前的重要研究课题。     

新型科学信息交流体系中的图书馆数字资源整合

本文介绍了科学信息交流体系在网络数字化环境中发生的变革及其对图书馆造成的冲击,讨论了数字资源整合的模式、标准协议、技术平台以及网格资源整合实例,并提出了新型学术信息交流体系下的图书馆数字资源整合策略。     

西部地区基础设施发展新思路

区域技术吸收能力和其经济增长之间存在着制约和被制约的关系,西部技术吸收能力的释放将成为区域经济增长的加速因子。分析西部地区影响技术吸收能力的相关因素表明,提升西部地区整体的人力资本素质特别是提高中等教育的普及程度、增加区域技术吸收经费的绝对数量并调整其在技术活动经费中的占比等努力将会促使西部地区技术吸收能力的提高,从而加快西部地区的经济增长速度。     

新形势下产业技术政策研究

本从我国面临的新型势对制定产业技术政策的要求开始，首先重要介绍了国外产业技术政策的理论研究和最新特点，详细分析了产业技术政策的概念，之后提出了新形势下制定产业技术政策所遵循的原则和需要考虑的几个关系，最后，论提出了我国当前的产业技术发展战略，并明确了产业技术政策发展的目标和重点。     

浅析高校新区建设中的基建档案管理

面对投资规模大、工期要求紧、产生档案材料多的新校区基建工程,高校档案部门应采取什么样的措施,才能完善新校区基建档案管理机制,实现科学管理,更好地为学校今后的维修及改造服务.     

Geo-Policy Barriers and Rural Internet Access: The Regulatory Role in Constructing the Digital Divide

A combination of geography, public policy, and commercial investment in information infrastructure combines to create geo-policy barriers that in turn structure the ability of rural citizens to access the Internet. A statistical study of 208 rural telephone exchanges in Texas combined with case studies from rural counties explores the impact of distance and policies aimed at enabling rural telephone connection on the presence of Internet service providers. Market territories, including exchange areas and LATAs, and the distance requirements of expanded local calling policy in Texas can both help and hinder Internet access in remote areas.