Info

Juan Alfonso Fernández González

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101847

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the expanding broadband “digital divide” as a warning that developing countries are falling behind in the upgrade of their telecommunication networks, specially the access network. It points out the deteriorated financial conditions facing developing countries in the context of the global economic crisis that adversely affects the availability of resources to invest in network infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review and analysis of relevant literature and the outcomes of significant ICT for development events. Findings – The existing economic mechanisms in international communications networks establish the financial flows in favor of the developed countries, thus thwarting any attempt to increase its net external income that could be used in investments in telecommunications infrastructure. On the other hand, convergence and the migration to next generation networks present a new set of opportunities and challenges to establish an international interconnection regime that will allow the developing countries to recover the investment in infrastructure. Research limitations/implications – The scarcity of publicly available economic data of the current international interconnection agreements suggests the necessity to conduct further research in this area. Practical implications – The failure to establish a non‐discriminatory international interconnection regime could lead to economic unsustainability of international networks in the long run. The paper presents some recommendations to address this issue. Originality/value – This paper presents an approximation to an important issue of international telecommunication networks that is usually hidden behind the confidentiality of services contracts.

Anthony Rutkowski

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101856

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the history of cyber security public international law since 1850 that is found in treaty instruments developed by the signatory nations of what is now known as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Because of the esoteric nature of the subject and, until recently, the very difficult access to reference materials, knowledge of these provisions was confined to a handful of scholars. Design/methodology/approach – To prepare this article, it was necessary to download the entire new ITU History Portal collection of treaty instruments, adding the US archive collection scans of missing documents, conversion to plain text, identification and linking of key provisions across time, detecting the differences, and then pursuing related material to find out why the text arose. Findings – What the material reveals is a 150‐year history of cybersecurity law that is not only relevant to significant developments today, but also controlling as a set of obligations that virtually every nation has accepted. Research limitations/implications – It is hoped that this article will not only be helpful going forward in dealing with the difficult challenges of evolving these provisions, but will also serve as a kind of template for a new generation that not only questions authority, but also appreciates the value of source materials, accessing them, and doing the necessary analysis rather than just visiting a search engine. Originality/value – The history of the cyber security public international law in the international telecommunication treaty instruments has never been compiled before.

Márcio Aranha; Hernán Galperin; François Bar; Marina Villela

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101865

Purpose – This article aims to explore the impact of a particular regulatory framework for CDMA and GSM use by fixed‐phone companies in Brazil on access, local‐loop competition and fixed‐mobile convergence. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the analysis of the three most significant cases in Brazil and the discussion of recent regulatory changes that facilitate access to radio spectrum on a secondary basis. Findings – Among the findings of the study is that while fixed‐wireless access (FWA) systems using CDMA seem to be more suitable to high‐density, well‐served areas, in which a large operator attempts to address a low‐income market satisfied with restricted mobility – GSM systems deployed on a secondary basis are best fitted to address the digital gap in low‐income, underserved areas, promoting local‐loop competition in markets of little interest to traditional operators. Practical implications – The conclusion outlines regulatory recommendations for promoting competition and the growth of innovative, small‐scale operators that take advantage of new wireless technologies to address service coverage gaps. Originality/value – The paper presents the first attempt to address the Brazilian CDMA‐ and GSM‐based fixed wireless access experience from a regulatory perspective and analyzes the “ruralfone” case, which uses a fixed phone license to deliver GSM‐based services in underserved communities, surpassing incumbent penetration in cities where there is no cellular network yet under a given regulatory environment in Brazil.

Mark de Reuver

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101874

Purpose – This paper seeks to study how interorganizational governance mechanisms within mobile eco‐systems are affected by the end of the walled gardens and what this implies for developing mobile internet services. Design/methodology/approach – Starting from concepts on interorganizational governance, the paper conducts an extensive case study on how the Dutch walled garden i‐mode portal evolved in an open WAP‐based portal. Findings – The transition of walled garden to open portals dramatically changes governance mechanisms between operator and content providers. Authority‐based governance in the form of operator rules, contracts‐based governance in the form of formalized agreements, and trust‐based governance in the form of close collaboration all reduced following the end of the walled garden. Research limitations/implications – The author demonstrates that theoretical concepts of interorganizational governance are relevant for actors within the mobile ecosystem to understand, next to regulatory, technical and market mechanisms, if they are to provide value to the customers as well as to the eco‐system itself. Originality/value – Although scholars often agree that the choice between walled gardens and open models will influence service innovation, existing studies do not systematically study how governance between operators and content providers changes when the mobile eco‐system is transforming from walled gardens to open models. Although this paper focuses on the relation between operators and content providers, the power shift to hardware and platform providers implies that governance is still highly relevant. As walled gardens also emerge in other areas of ICT‐enabled services, for instance in the Smart Living domain, the insights will be valuable for studies on ICT‐enabled service industries as well.

Paolo Lupi; Fabio Manenti; Antonio Scialà; Cristiano Varin

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101883

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a new and simple approach to the empirical assessment of the internal efficiency of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) based on outcomes on regulated markets. Moreover, in order to illustrate this approach, the authors apply the proposed methodology to telecommunications. Design/methodology/approach – First, this paper defines the production process of a NRA to identify correctly the inputs and the outputs of regulatory activity. Second, with reference to the telecommunications sector this paper provides estimates for the inputs and output identified. Third, by treating each NRA as a decision making unit (DMU) this paper carries out a data envelopment analysis (DEA) used in conjunction with a smoothed bootstrap technique. Findings – This paper provides evidences that NRAs operating in new accession countries look more efficient in pursuing dynamic efficiency goals than (more experienced) NRAs operating in other European countries, while they are less efficient when the regulatory outcomes are measured in terms of retail efficiency. Research limitations/implications – The lack of data on NRAs' personnel and budget requires a cautious discussion of the results. Practical implications – This paper enables one to get a better understanding of the effectiveness of different regulatory measures. Social implications – Once a measure of productive (internal) efficiency of a regulatory body has been obtained, it is then possible to embed this information in a more general analysis aimed at disentangling the effectiveness of regulatory measures from the ability (efficiency) of NRAs in putting them into force. Originality/value – The evaluation of regulators' productive efficiency, as well as the identification of its determinants, has been almost completely neglected in the literature. With this paper we start to fill this gap.

Chalita Srinuan

2011 Info

doi: 10.1108/14636691111101892

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the private costs of delaying privatization of TOT Public Company Limited, a state‐owned enterprise telephony carrier. Design/methodology/approach – To address the private costs of a delay in terms of privatization, a counterfactual forecasting model has been constructed for the years 2007‐2012. The starting year of the evaluation is 2006, as this year was the deadline for privatization under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. The forecasting model uses the traditional investment approach as well as scenario analyses. Findings – The traditional investment approach and sensitivity analyses provide similar results. Both show that the benefit of delaying the privatization process could be higher than if the WTO‐agreed time process for TOT privatization were followed, as the growth of revenue sharing and from concessionaires would be higher than if TOT were privatized. There are no benefits in the long run, however, as the growth rate of revenue in the base case is lower than that in the privatization case, leading to a reduction in the present value of the base case over time: hence, the longer the delay in privatization, the slower the firm growth. Originality/value – There are very few studies on Thailand's telecommunications sector. The results of this study are also useful to other developing countries.