Analogue switch-off vs digital switch-on: rethinking policy strategies in the digital television era

In the last few decades, the traditional television landscape has come under pressure and the diffusion of digital television (DTV) services emerged as a hot issue. Especially for policy makers, access to DTV is considered a key element in the further development of the information society. Facilitating equal access for all to the new possibilities offered by digital television should be the central objective. In this context, policy makers are confronted with various challenges: How can they facilitate a smooth transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television? How should they handle digital dividend issues? In dealing with these topics, this article stresses the importance of a user-oriented approach

Dominant Issues and Conceptual Approaches in Mobile Business Research From 2005-2012

This paper undertakes a review and classification of the mobile business (m-business) theme of mobile computing research, with the intention of identifying the dominant issues and conceptual approaches to existing research. It consists of 100 articles published between 2005 and 2012 in a diverse journals focused on information systems, business, and development. The papers are reviewed under the subcategories of Mobile Business Applications/Services; Economics, Strategy and Business Models; and Consumer Acceptance/Adoption. In terms of issues, the review shows a concentration of research on firm-level adoption of mobile technology within first subcategory, whilst mobile business analysis, capturing customer value and responses to competition dominates the second subcategory. Determinants of consumer adoption of mobiles dominate the third subcategory. Similarly, technology adoption models like TAM and UTAUT dominate the conceptual approaches to m-business. There is much room for studies into the strategies adopted by firms to create value for consumers and to sustain the value creation process in response to consumer demands and advances in mobile technologies and applications. The review serves as a useful research synthesis and is excellent for future research on mobile business based on the gaps we have identified

The roles of some antecedents of broadband user behavioural intention among students in the rural areas through PLS-SEM

The insufficient broadband enabled-services in the rural areas have been identified among the reasons that prolong the behaviour of rural dwellers on the use of low-band internet while government agencies have started initiations to increase the use of broadband in the rural area.However, previous studies have failed to identify the roles played by antecedents of broadband user behavioural intention in the rural communities. Thus, this research investigates roles of some antecedents of broadband user behavioural intention in the rural areas by adapting UTAUT model.A quantitative research approach was employed by engaging 1,730 participants from 40 villages who are secondary school students that are living in rural areas of northern region of Malaysia.The result reveals that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and compatibility have large effect on broadband user behavioural intention in the rural areas, while social influence recorded medium effect.This implies that all the identified factors may help in determining the behavioural intention of users of broadband in the rural areas

Mobile gaming: Industry challenges and policy implications

Mobile games are a prime example of a successful mobile application and demonstrate the increasing range of platforms for the media and entertainment industries. Against this convergent background, this paper introduces the basic features of the mobile gaming market and its industrial ecosystem together with its main actors and activities. The focus of the paper lies in the challenges ahead for the evolution of mobile applications into a potentially dominant game platform and the possible disruptions along this road. The deep personal relationships between users and their mobile devices are considered to further explore the link between mobile games, players’ strategies and pending techno-economic developments. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of some policy options to assist with the development of this domain

Investigating the readiness of broadband continuous usage among rural dwellers in the northern region of Malaysia

Broadband is simply described as the transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate Integrated Services Digital Network at 1.5 or 2.0 megabits per second. Efforts have been made by the government of Malaysia to ensure that broadband should be seen as basic need and not a luxury.However, the internet users at the remote and rural areas in the world lack behind in using broadband which is always caused by lack of technology and economic factors, while the rural areas especially in the northern region of Malaysia are not excluded.This research investigated the readiness of rural dwellers in the northern region of Malaysia towards continuous usage of broadband by using a quantitative survey technique.The total numbers of 200 questionnaires were distributed to secondary school students that are residing in the rural areas of northern region of Malaysia.The results show that the rural dwellers are readily prepared for broadband continuous usage in their localization whenever they are sensitized towards it

Proceedings of the Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference (SPARC) 2011

These proceedings bring together a selection of papers from the 2011 Salford Postgraduate Annual Research Conference(SPARC). It includes papers from PhD students in the arts and social sciences, business, computing, science and engineering, education, environment, built environment and health sciences. Contributions from Salford researchers are published here alongside papers from students at the Universities of Anglia Ruskin, Birmingham City, Chester,De Montfort, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores and Manchester

Smart island tourism and strategic marketing: the case of the island of El Hierro

Tourism and technology grow quickly generating behaviors that force challenges and dynamic decision-making. Tourist destinations have to deal with a complex environment that makes their competitive position dependent on Information and Communications Technology (ICT). As all citizens can be connected, better informed and engaged, the concept of Smart Destination needs to integrate tourism planning and territory services for the visitor. This will influence the motivation of tourists when they choose their holiday destination. The aim of this work is to create a theoretical and practical conceptualization of Smart Island, using the case of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), one of the first Smart Island in the world

Bursting the broadband bubble

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Broadband has revolutionised the way the Internet is used and has become the critical enabling infrastructure of our modem and knowledge-based economy. Its widespread introduction has not only greatly enhanced the speed at which information online can be accessed, but also the range and sophistication of the content available. It is still penetrating the telecommunication market and is seen by some as the most significant evolutionary step since the emergence of the Internet. However in the rush to achieve market share, there is a risk that insufficient attention may be paid to quality issues, the central theme of this research. The research addresses the issues of broadband quality with a stated objective of assessing broadband quality by means of an integrated framework that encompasses factors beyond strict technical characteristics of broadband networks. Indeed, the concept of quality is a multi-facetted one, for which various perspectives can be distinguished. In this work, broadband quality as perceived by users, ISP and Government in the United Kingdom (UK) is looked at and a survey report is given and analysed. The aim of this doctoral research was to provide much needed empirical broadband quality framework that would guide the service provider as well as the UK government in the provision of quality broadband to its consumers. It will also stand as a benchmark to countries wanting to provide quality broadband to its citizens. A survey research approach was employed to achieve the overall aim and objective of this research. This was conducted using the response of 133 participants located in various boroughs in the UK. The results of the survey show that quality, though desired by many, has been short-changed by the desire to have access to the Internet via broadband at the lowest cost possible. However, this has not encouraged some consumers to switch to broadband from dial-up service despite continuous low prices being offered by service providers. Furthermore, the results also indicated that focusing on broadband quality will improve and promote investment in broadband capacity and decrease the uncertainty in consumer demand for applications such as multi-media content delivery, enhanced electronic commerce and telecommuting that exploit broadband access

The readiness for m-government in a South African provincial government

Masters of CommerceThis study aims at determining the m-Readiness of a Province for m-Government from a context of its Provincial Government (PG), the underprivileged citizens of the region and the mobile fluency thereof. In answering the research question, i.e., “What is the extent of readiness of the government and that of the underprivileged citizens for introduction of m-Government within the region under study”, literature was reviewed and existing models synthesised, and from that, a conceptual model was presented which acted as a reference point. The research process used a quantitative method and utilised a stratified random sampling method in determining and adequately representing the populations under study, namely, underprivileged citizens and IT managers and specialists from the PG’s office. Descriptive statistics were adopted in analysing the collected data used in answering the research questions and findings presented. The findings show that the Province is m-Ready for m-Government services, from the studied contexts of the PG, underprivileged citizens and mobile fluency. The reference model, that is, the Provincial Mobile Readiness Measurement Model (PMRMM), was developed from a perspective of the Province under study, therefore, its theoretical generalizability to other Provinces has to be first studied before being implemented. Secondly, the study only looked at three segments of the government service delivery value chain, which are the Government-to-Citizen (G2C), Government-to-Employee (G2E) and Governmentto- Government (G2G). The contributions of the study are twofold, firstly as a practical decision-making guide regarding introduction of m-Government and secondly, it adds to the conceptual understanding of government readiness for introduction of government services via ICT mobile platforms