Contracts and Competition in the Pay-TV Market

Contracts, licensing, pay-TV

Analysis of WIMAX/BWA Licensing in India: A real option approach

Indian Internet and broadband market has experienced very slow growth and limited penetration till now. The introduction of Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) is expected to aid in increasing the penetration of internet and broadband in India. The report sheds light on the guidelines and procedure used in 4G/BWA spectrum auction and presents comparative analysis of the competing technologies, providing the information about suitability of each technology available. Recently held 4G/ BWA spectrum auction saw enthusiastic participation by the industry and even saw some new entrants in Indian broadband market. Government benefited by Rs, 385bn that it earned as revenue from the auction of the spectrum and projected it as successful auction. However, the question remains if the auctions were efficient and whether they led to creation of value or will it prove to be burden to the telecom operators and will depress their balance sheet for years to come. The report uses both traditional valuation methods such as Discounted Cash Flow as well as Real Option approach to answer such questions. Using DCF analysis, the broadband subscribers have been forecasted to grow from present 13.77mn to 544mn by the end of 2025. The wireless subscribers are forecasted to be 70% of the total broadband subscribers after 5 years of roll out as it will be difficult to replace all wireline subscribers with wireless subscribers in India due to the high cost of wireless broadband and new technology. WiMAX is expected to increase its presence with time and reach 90mn subscribers from meager 0.35mn subscribers by 2025. Using industry wide cost of capital as 12.05%, the Net Present Value has been found Rs 221bn aggregate with an IRR of 17.1%. Using Real option approach, the value of license has been calculated as Rs 437bn which is 13.5% more than the spectrum fees paid by the operators. This mismatch, between the auction value and the correct value that should have been discovered by supply-demand dynamics, can be due to limited participants in BWA spectrum auctions and companies such as TATA and Reliance opting out of the auction process midway as well as uncertainty about acceptance of new technology with Indian subscribers.WiMAX, broadband, 3G spectrum, 4G,broadband wireless access, valuation, licensing, real option

Hot-wiring community

ABSTRACT In response to the \u27digital divide\u27, national and local governments in the UK, the US and Australia have embarked on various initiatives designed to promote the use of computer networks in low-income communities. These initiatives involve common models of self-help and mutual obligation; the pattern is one where government provides seed funding to encourage public-private partnerships between disadvantaged communities, businesses, philanthropists and universities. Together they rig up a solution to information poverty, giving people access to information technologies in their homes. The idea is that people will be better able to share resources, find work, acquire qualifications, help themselves and trust one another. Already, however, the reality has fallen short of expectations. It taken a long time for technical experimentation to find success; often, meanwhile, the public-private partnership model has broken down. More importantly for broader social policy discussion, there is a prevailing confusion about whether the focus should be on employment, education and training outcomes, or on more diffuse ideas about social cohesion. This paper reviews international examples of success and failure in building wired communities, putting the case for a stronger focus on selfeducation, informal learning and employment outcomes rather than on community-building and social cohesion

Opening up public data should be an urgent priority for the government and could lead to considerable economic benefits

There is no longer a reasonable justification for keeping publicly funded data under lock and key. With the government ostensibly committed to transparency, Chris Yiu argues that opening up public data is a must, and could have solid economic and productive benefits

Posting Research Online

{Excerpt} Dissemination is an indispensable means of maximizing the impact of research. It is an intrinsic element of all good research practice that promotes the profile of research institutions and strengthens their capacities. The challenge is to ensure the physical availability of research material and to make it intelligible to those who access it. Knowledge and information often stay where they are generated. For that reason, the performance of research institutions hangs on the ability to disseminate research findings to different audiences. For each research agenda, this calls for a dissemination policy, a dissemination plan, a dissemination strategy, and dissemination tactics. Over the past 10 years, the world has witnessed the amazingly rapid development of the internet as a worldwide communications network linking millions of computers. Not surprisingly, the internet is now the primary means of disseminating research findings, such as through digital libraries containing electronic journals, electronic print archives, and conference proceedings. It is now possible for all researchers to use the internet to promote research online so that it may be invoked by peers, educators, students, journalists, customers for research expertise, and the general public. Research institutions ignore the internet at their peril

Evaluation of the potential of market entrance into the personal luxury goods resale market in Thailand

The resale of luxury goods is a relatively new phenomenon that globally shakes up the luxury industry. Despite having a second-hand luxury market in place, the Thai market lacks service quality in international comparison, leaving the potential for companies to enter the market and close the quality gap. Past research focused on consumer behavior in relation to luxury consumption (Eastman et al., 1999), service quality (Parasuraman et al., 1988) as well as the relatively new pattern of second-hand consumption (Roux & Guiot, 2010). This study combined these approaches to evaluate the potential of market entrance into the personal luxury goods resale market in Thailand and addressed the questions whether there is potential for a second-hand luxury reselling business in Thailand and which service parameter is most important for Thai customers. In order to answer these questions, the Thai market is analyzed with a review of secondary sources and through quantitative research methods (i.e. online consumer survey), measuring the Thai consumers’ attitude towards luxury and second-hand consumption of personal luxury goods. The survey also included a section on service quality that sought to answer the second research question concerning the importance thereof. The general market environment and the willingness of Thai consumers to engage in second-hand consumption of personal luxury goods suggest that there is potential for a second-hand luxury reselling business in Thailand. Furthermore, the results indicate, that Assurance is the most important service dimension for Thai consumers