An Examination of the Evolution of Broadband Technologies in the UK

The aim of this thesis is to examine the reasons due to which Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) became the most widely used technology to deliver broadband connectivity in the United Kingdom (UK). The research examines the outcome starting with events in 1960s when broadband as it is defined today did not exist. The research shows that a combination of factors involving regulatory decisions, changing market conditions, and unexpected technological breakthroughs contributed to the current day mix of broadband technologies in the last mile access in the UK. To interpret the events that have shaped the development, deployment, and adoption of broadband technologies in the UK, the thesis draws from various theoretical ideas related to Science and Technology Studies (STS) to understand and analyse the events. In order to discover and establish the historical context, the thesis employs original, unpublished interviews along with the extensive use of archival material and secondary sources. Influenced by some of the core ideas of social constructionist studies, this research combines concepts from economic studies of technological change along with themes involving maintenance of technology, path dependence, and the role of bandwagon effect. These research threads are combined to understand the way development, deployment, and adoption of broadband technologies took place in the UK. The research is intended to contribute to the understanding of technology in a constantly changing regulatory and socio-economic environment and how it is shaped by multiple factors. The targeted readership is researchers, analysts, and decision makers working with broadband technology, telecommunications policy, and STS. Further research is suggested in the form of studies of wireless broadband technologies and the role of regulatory policies in the development of the UK communications market

Inhouse Versus Public Videotex Systems

The aim of this report is to analyse the relation between inhouse and public videotex systems and show that these systems are and should not be independent of each other and that they can and should complement each other rather than compete

Murmuring in the waves: a rhythmanalysis of the 1970s’ conjunctural shift in Britain

This PhD thesis closely examines the method of rhythmanalysis as a mode of attending to cultural experiences. It mainly engages with Henri Lefebvre’s philosophical discussions of the method and this thesis expands and extends the contribution of rhythmanalysis to historical work in particular. In relation to what the cultural theorist Stuart Hall marks to be a conjunctural shift that took place around the mid-1970s in Britain, I aim to explore the historic rupture by mapping out how rhythmic alliances of social life have changed in the post-war years. While Hall’s theorisation of the conjunctural shift is largely based on ideological grounds (especially his writing on Thatcherism suggests a paradigm shift led by a political figure), I tentatively set out to (dis)entangle the kind of rhythms, as ways of sensing, and ways of ordering social experiences, which testify to Hall’s theories. There are two ways of proceeding and I use case studies to illustrate how rhythmanalysis may operate. The first focus is on bodily rhythms such as walking and how it may direct our attention to the material conditions that were undergoing transformations in the East End of London. I also explore rhythms of the postal systems as they were enmeshed in a complex network of communication rhythms such as transport and financial practices. My thesis is both a theoretical contribution to the field of cultural history, as well as providing empirical evidence that complicate and enrich the historical perspective of this conjuncture

La teledocumentación y sus repercusiones en el desarrollo de la investigación científica

Tesis Univ. Complutense.Universidad Complutense de MadridTRUEProQuestpu