Telecommunication Economics - Overview of the Field, Recommendations, and Perspectives

Telecommunication economics has evolved into an area of research, which includes technical aspects, social issues, economic and business factors, and regulation demands. The combination of those four dimensions is becoming critical for a suitable and viable understanding of communication needs in today's society. Therefore, this report on the Dagstuhl Perspectives Seminar ‘‘Telecommunication Economics''summarizes a number of key aspects of this field, it develops a set of selected and detailed recommendations, and outlines respective perspectives, which are being worked on partially already today and which need a much closer attention in the mid-term futur

African hunt for investment: any chance for success?

During recent two decades the world has witnessed a drastic increase in global FDI inflows. Gradually more and more investment has been directed to the developing countries in the attempt to diversify portfolios and use finance in the most efficient way. Not all developing regions of the world perfectly succeeded in attracting FDI. Large by labor force and territory, abundant in natural resources Sub-Saharan Africa could perform much better in this aspect. This paper once again reviews the opportunities for FDI in Africa and suggests possible ways for authorities of African states to overcome the existing situation.FDI, Africa, determinants, policy recommendations, Financial Economics, International Development, F21, O55,

Telecommunication Economics — Summary on the Dagstuhl Perspectives Seminar No. 08043

The telecommunications sector and the Internet section of Internet Service Providers (ISP) have become a dynamic key area for the economic development of industrialized nations in the world. It is in constant evolution. Because of intense competition, telecommunications companies and ISPs are forced to diversify their offers and thus to propose an increasing number of services. However, economic analysis often ignores important technical aspects of telecommunications and is not aware of new developments. Engineering models often ignore economic factors. Thus, the design and deployment of future networks that incorporate new services are subject to uncertainties such as equipment and capacity prices (due to technological innovation), demand and supply for services (due to competition). Seeing leading researchers bringing together with various backgrounds, all working on innovative aspects of technical, techno-economic, social, and regulatory issues, lead to the following four main areas that have been partially tackled in an integrated manner: Architectural side, Social side, Economic and business side, and Regulatory side

Firm Location Decisions and Information Needs

A significant portion of Georgia's economic development policy is targeted towards attracting businesses to locate in Georgia. In this process, businesses weigh their alternatives and select a location based on certain criteria. In order for businesses to accurately assess location alternatives, they must have appropriate information to assist in their decision process. In Georgia, a portion of this information comes from the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and/or another economic development entity within the state. There is a gap in our knowledge, however, about how business prospects considering a location in Georgia perceive both the information that Georgia provides and the incentives that are offered in actual economic development deals. Business prospects include not only actual firms, but also the group of professional site location consultants around the country. In order to place Georgia in its most competitive position as well as to provide the most useful information to business prospects, it is important to understand the viewpoint of business prospects and the prospecting community in their business location decision process. This report documents the information needs of businesses seeking to relocate and perceptions of the usefulness of information provided in that process. Report #9

The New EU Frontier: Perspectives on Enhanced Economic Integration

The central objective of this report is to identify the best forms of enhanced economic integration that could be pursued over the next 5-10 years between the EU and five of its important neighbour countries: Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. The report starts from reviewing existing forms of economic integration and time dependencies between them. It then discusses in more detail institutional requirements for alternative options of deepening co-operation with the EU neighbour countries. Subsequently, likely effects of economic integration are discussed. Special sections are devoted to the energy cooperation with Russia, Algeria and Ukraine and to the EU financial assistance to its neighbourhood. The report concludes with policy recommendations that could be relevant for the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy and also for pursuing business opportunities in the EU neighbourhood.ENP, economic integration, EU Neighbourhood

An Investigation of the Factors Affecting Consumers’ Adoption of E-commerce: An Empirical Study of Saudi Arabia

This study identified a gap in the adoption of electronic (e)-commerce in Saudi Arabia in particular and developing countries in general and hopefully, provides some useful insight regarding e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. This study is limited to a small nation or group which makes generalization not essential (Bryman 2008,p.391). But at the same time, it provides a good base for further work that can be based on the findings of this study. Businesses across the world are launching e-commerce to increase sales by reducing costs, and extending their activities to serve their clients anywhere in the world. The literature, however, shows that in many developing countries e-commerce projects have failed due to a lack of consumers' readiness to adopt it whereas consumers in the developed countries have already incorporated e-commerce into their daily lives. In order for e-commerce to be successful in developing countries, consumers need to accept and adopt this service. This gap is addressed by this study so that developing countries come to benefit from e-commerce and avoid possible failures. The study presents the key factors (enablers and barriers) that affect consumers’ adoption of e-commerce. It aims to understand consumers’ perspectives, move theoretically to obtain suppliers’ comments on consumers’ viewpoints, gather any new aspects mentioned by them and finally to combine the two perspectives together to arrive at the final findings. The researcher investigated a number of research methodologies to find the one appropriate for this study. As a result, a qualitative research approach was adopted, which was used to understand and explain the phenomenon under investigation. Grounded theory methodology (GT) was used since it uses theoretical sampling that helped to achieve the study’s goals by moving theoretically from the first empirical study to the second. The study used various techniques to collect evidence such as semi-structure interviews, observations and official documents. The two empirical studies of this research offered a good understanding and further insights into e-commerce adoption among consumers. It reveals a roadmap for suppliers and governments that enable them to adopt e-commerce among consumers in developing countries. The findings of this study are divided into the following dimensions: cultural, telecommunication infrastructure, technical, suppliers’ responsibilities, financial, awareness, legal, delivery, tangible and intangible end-user characteristics, security, geographical and government’s responsibilities dimensions. Government’s responsibilities have been found to be the core category that affects most of the factors that are germane to this study. These factors can help decision makers understand the issues that are involved and effectively address them. The final paradigm model presented in chapter 8 illustrates the phenomenon, its causes, conditions, specifications and the required strategies that help to increase e-commerce adoption among consumers

Open-Access Issues in the Chilean Telecommunications and Electricity Sectors

Este trabajo analiza la crisis eléctrica de 1998-1999. Su principal conclusión es que el diagnóstico habitual que sostiene que ocurrió porque las empresas no invirtieron y el regulador no tenía atribuciones, es equivocado. A pesar de la peor sequía del siglo y de la falla de la central Nehuenco, los cortes de energía y el déficit agregado de 450 GWh se podrían haber evitado si el agua embalsada se hubiese manejado recientemente, o bien los reguladores hubiesen usado sus atribuciones para hacer funcionar el sistema de precios, o si el ejecutivo no hubiese temido afectar su imagen decretando racionamiento apenas las condiciones lo exigieran. Argumentamos que la variabilidad hidrológica a la que está sujeta Chile central hace inevitable las reducciones de consumo en años muy secos. Las crisis ocurren porque el sistema de precios es inflexible e inadecuado para acomodarlas sin cortes de energía; ante una escasez tanto usuarios como empresas enfrentan precios muy por debajo del costo de oportunidad de la energía. Esto, además, introduce un problema de moral hazard que incentiva el uso ineficiente del agua embalsada y hace más probable que ocurra una escasez. Es equivocado pensar que las crisis se evitarían dándole más atribuciones discrecionales al regulador. Varios episodios muestran que no usó las atribuciones que tenía. Al ejecutivo le incomoda zanjar conflictos entre privados porque sus intervenciones tienen consecuencias patrimoniales que lo dejan vulnerable a las críticas de quienes se sienten perjudicados. Por ello se debe liberar al regulador de la obligación de zanjar conflictos entre privados. Esto requiere liberalizar la regulación.