A National Report on the Use of Telecommunications to Deliver VR Services

It can be difficult for VR counselors to provide face-to-face services to rural clients. Large caseloads reduce counselors’ available travel time to travel to outlying rural communities, and rising fuel costs make such trips expensive (Metzel & Giordano, 2007; Riemer-Reiss, 2000). Telecommunications can increase counselor-client accessibility and provide flexibility to supplement face-to-face services. Telecommunications refers to a variety of information technology (IT) that allows people in different locations to engage with one another, while reducing boundaries of time, distance, and location. Access to telecommunication services, however, may be limited. For instance, people living in rural areas may lack access to certain telecommunication technologies (Porter & Donthu, 2005). And some telecommunication technology may be difficult for people with limited writing or communication skills. We conducted two studies on the use of telecommunications in the VR process—one from the perspective of VR counselors and one from the perspective of rural VR consumers. Following are the preliminary findings from the survey of VR counselors

International benchmarking of remote, rural and urban telecommunications services

This paper looks at the extent of differences in the accessibility, quality and price of telecommunications services between remote, rural and urban areas in Australia and other comparable countries. It finds that users experience some disadvantages compared with urban users, but generally no more so than in other countries. This is despite the higher cost of providing services in more sparsely populated Australia. The prices of traditional telephone voice services are similar in rural and urban areas in Australia and in most of the countries studied (although callers’ bills can be higher depending on call patterns).telecommunications - remote - rural - urban - Internet - mobile phones - PSTN

The new regulation of public infrastructure services in the European Union. Challenges for territorial cohesion

Public infrastructure services (or Services of General Economic Interest, SGEI) in the European Union have undergone significant reform in the recent period, including privatization, liberalization and deregulation. These reforms, however, have led to concerns about the potential impact of pursuing economic profitability over service quality, affordability, accessibility and universality. Traditionally, because SGEI have been understood as playing a key economic, social and strategic role, they have been subject to specific rules in the general interest: so-called Public Service Obligations (PSO). A key objective of PSO is to ensure equal access to services, independent of the place of residence, income or other factors. PSO are, therefore, a key instrument as regards ensuring equity and territorial cohesion. As such, it constitutes a fundamental concern in European regional policy. Traditionally, the regulation of SGEI has focused on the supply side, as it has been assumed competition in an integrated European market would benefit citizens. Despite this, little research has actually been done on evaluating regulation from the demand side, not to speak of applying a regional focus. The aim of this paper is to evaluate SGEI provision and regulation in the EU from the perspective of citizens as consumers using a regional perspective. We focus on the region (NUTS1) and the urban/rural character of the place of residence as possible determinants of disparities. To do so, a microeconometric analysis of citizens’ revealed and stated preferences is performed, focusing on three large European countries (Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) for four services: electricity, gas, water and telecommunications. First, disparities in spending on the services are analyzed, using National Household Budget Surveys. Next, differences in dissatisfaction with service access and price are analyzed, using the Eurobarometer. Finally, we analyze whether lower consumption of a particular service in a particular region or rural area is related to problems of accessibility, affordability or to other factors. Findings show different regional patterns of services use. Moreover, serious and widespread problems are observed regarding equal access to services such as gas and telecommunications in rural areas, of some concern for the question of territorial cohesion.

MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICES: CHINESE USERS’ ADOPTION PATTERNS

Recent technological advancement in Telecommunications industry has enabled service providers and application developers to offer some of their services which used to be solely PC based for mobile devices as well. Given the prevalence of mobile data services, specifically mobile social network services, and application-stores such as Market (Andriod) and AppStore (Apple), it is crucial to understand user behaviour toward mobile service diffusion. The present study aims to investigate Chinese users’ behaviour toward mobile social network services, based on a sample of 212 respondents who used the most popular mobile social network services such as Tencent QQ in China. Our analysis suggests that each construct, perceived enjoyment, social influence, critical mass and mobile accessibility of social network service makes a unique contribution to our understanding of mobile social network service usage behaviour

The Silence After the Beep: Envisioning an Emergency Information System to Serve the Visually Impaired

Due to a series of legal and regulatory setbacks, media accessibility regulations for consumers who are blind and visually impaired have lagged significantly behind those for deaf individuals. Until April 2014, when the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Information Order took effect, blind consumers were left “in the dark” when their safety mattered most—during weather emergencies—because visual emergency information displayed in the on-screen crawl during television programming was not accessible in an aural format. The Commission now mandates that this information be provided in an aural form through the secondary audio stream for linear programming viewed on televisions and mobile devices and other “second screens” used inside the home over the MVPD’s network, but this requirement leaves many issues unresolved. This Issue Brief examines and analyzes the arguments made by industry and consumer groups for and against expanded regulation, and makes several recommendations that efficiently fill gaps in the current regulatory requirements for accessible emergency information. These recommendations are technically feasible, not unduly burdensome, and necessary to effectuate the purpose of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. Specifically, the Commission can extend emergency information regulations to the entities it failed to reach with its Emergency Information Order and Second Report and Order by adopting the Linear Programming Definition of an MVPD that it puts forth in its MVPD Definition NPRM. The Commission should adopt this definition, thereby expanding the scope of entities required to comply with the Emergency Information Order, but it should curtail the Order’s rigidity by not passing prioritization guidelines and by removing the requirement to include school closures and changes in the bus schedule in the secondary audio stream

Convergence and Australian content: The importance of access

In the light of new and complex challenges to media policy and regulation, the Austrlaian government commissioned the Convergence Review in late 2010 to assess the continuing applicability and utility of the principles and objectives that have shaped the policy framework to this point. It proposed a range of options for policy change and identified three enduring priorities for continued media regulation: media ownership and control; content standards; and Australian content production and distribution. The purpose of this article is to highlight an area where we feel there are opportunities for further discussion and research: the question of how the accessibility and visibility of Australian and local content may be assured in the future media policy framework via a combination of regulation and incentives to encourage innovation in content distribution

The Measure and Regulation of Competition in Telecommunications Markets

The development of the canadian telecommunications web is significantly influenced by the regulatory framework put in place to oversee the evolution of the web toward a competitive system. This paper has two specific objectives: first, to develop a methodological framework, which will allow a proper characterization of the level of competition in the telecommunications industry, more specifically in the residential local access market and second, to recommend some (significant) changes in the CRTC approach to the regulation of the Canadian Telecommunications industry. I argue that the current approach to the regulation of telecommunications in Canada is likely to generate significant harms to consumers and businesses as well as efficiency losses for the Canadian economy. I conclude that there is a urgent need for a telecommunications regulatory reform, with a stronger accent put on three crucial roles of the telecommunications regulator as the trusted generator of information for the consumers, as the manager of the level playing field conditions, and as the promoter of efficient investment programmes. Le développement du réseau canadien des télécommunications est influencé de façon significative par le cadre réglementaire adopté pour régir l’évolution de ce réseau vers la concurrence. Cet article a deux objectifs principaux : d’une part, développer un cadre méthodologique adéquat pour caractériser le niveau de concurrence dans l’industrie des télécommunications, plus particulièrement du marché des services résidentiels locaux, et, d’autre part, de proposer des changements (importants) au cadre réglementaire actuel. Je montre que le cadre réglementaire actuel peut engendrer des problèmes importants pour les consommateurs et l’industrie ainsi que des pertes d’efficacité pour l’économie canadienne. Il existe un besoin urgent de réformer le cadre réglementaire actuel, en mettant l’accent sur trois rôles essentiels de l’agence de régulation des télécommunications comme fournisseur d’informations aux consommateurs, comme gestionnaire des conditions de concurrence loyale pour toutes les entreprises et comme promoteur de programmes d’investissement efficaces.competition, regulatory reform, telecommunications , concurrence, réforme de la réglementation, télécommunication