Regulatory change in network industries: The Spanish experience

The 1990s witnessed significant regulatory changes in several Spanish network industries such as electricity, telecommunications, natural gas and oil. This article provides an assessment of these developments, trying to ascertain what goals policy-makers attempted to achieve with the deregulation process and to what extent the program has been successful.Desregulation nertworks telecoms electricity gas;

Telecommunications Reform In Southern Africa: The Role Of The Southern African Development Community

This article examines telecommunications reform and related infrastructure and service developments in Southern African states. In focusing on this region, the article analyses the role of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the different associations and commissions it has created to develop the telecommunications sector and facilitate reform, which is essential to promote network efficiencies and extend the infrastructure to rural areas. As a regional organisation, SADC is poised to promote restructuring of the telecommunications sector in its 14 member states, as it seeks to achieve complementary national and regional programs and promote sustainable development and economic growth through regional integration

Telecommunications Reform In Southern Africa: The Role Of The Southern African Development Community

This article examines telecommunications reform and related infrastructure and service developments in Southern African states. In focusing on this region, the article analyses the role of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the different associations and commissions it has created to develop the telecommunications sector and facilitate reform, which is essential to promote network efficiencies and extend the infrastructure to rural areas. As a regional organisation, SADC is poised to promote restructuring of the telecommunications sector in its 14 member states, as it seeks to achieve complementary national and regional programs and promote sustainable development and economic growth through regional integration

Telecommunications networks and services in Estonia. Lessons to other European countries.

Estonia has shown somewhat remarkable developments in the telecommunications – or more precisely, building up an efficient network of modern information and telecommunications technologies (ICTs) for the Information Society. This paper takes a look at the development of telecommunications infrastructure networks and services in Estonia. The study also evalu-ates what other countries could learn from Estonia. More specifically, by this study we at-tempt at answering whether Estonia is as successful as data suggests, what the factors behind this success are, and whether there are lessons to be learned for the entire European territory. The paper introduces to the development of the telecommunications infrastructure and ser-vices in Estonia, by presenting facts and figures, and comparing the progress of the country with that of other European countries. It also discusses the measures that have helped Estonia on the road to Information Society. The results show that in summary the success of Estonia seems to have been a result of three things: Proximity of Finland and Sweden, active regula-tion and relative early liberalization, and a competition and entrant friendly market environ-ment. The paper is an outgrowth of the ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Net-work) project 1.2.2 “Telecommunications Services and Networks: Territorial Trends and Ba-sic Supply of Infrastructure for Territorial Cohesion” (see: http://www.espon.lu).

The Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Report

Reports on developments in programs managed by JPL's Office of Telecommunications and Data Acquisition are presented. Emphasis is placed on activities of the Deep Space Network and its associated ground facilities

Regulatory reforms in selected EU network industries

In the course of the 1990s, the EU has embarked on an ambitious regulatory reform programme for a number of European network industries, such as telecommunications, energy and transport. This paper analyses the potential benefits of successful reforms in these sectors with a focus on the price effects of regulatory reforms. Following a review of the existing empirical literature in this field, the paper discusses the evolution of the current regulatory framework for network industries in the EU. An empirical analysis of the main determinants of recent price developments in these industries provides evidence that regulatory reform measures had a substantial downward impact on prices in the four sectors under review.Network Industries, Panel Data, Price effects, Regulatory Reforms.

Regulation of telecommunication and deployment of broadband

This memorandum explores the question whether regulation in telecommunications encourages or hampers the development of new technologies. Contrary to other network industries, the telecommunications industry is more and more characterized by several, competing networks, such as cable, copper, and wireless. Regulation is, however, still needed as in several components of telecommunications sources of market power remain. The key issue in the regulation of access to a network is dealing with the possible trade-off between static efficiency and dynamic efficiency. Favourable conditions for access to the network contribute to allocative efficiency and productive efficiency, but can negatively affect incentives for investments in upgrading of existing infrastructures and developing new ones. In the Netherlands, regulation of the telecommunication industry is designed to enhance competition between alternative infrastructures without affecting the technology choice of both incumbents and entrants. In the market for unbundled access to the local loop and the market for high quality wholesale access, a trade-off exists between static efficiency and dynamic efficiency. Regulated access tariffs, which are based on average costs, seem to be a good compromise between static and dynamic efficiency. Tariffs for access to the local loop reflect actual costs of the existing copper infrastructure, giving entrants incentives to make efficient make-or-buy decisions. In addition, the threat of infrastructure competition in the local loop, as well as the service-based competition between providers using different infrastructures, i.e. copper and cable, provide incentives for the incumbent to increase efficiency. Our overall conclusion is that Dutch regulation of the telecommunication industry gives efficient incentives for technological developments such as the deployment of broadband. See also: Do market failures hamper the perspectives of broadband?

NIGERIA'S RESPONSE TO THE DYNAMIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENVIRONMENT: A POLICY-BASED STUDY

IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE TO ASK WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BEFORE ONE SETS OUT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF HOW INVESTMENTS IN INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURESHOULD BE VALUED AND REGULATED. THIS PROJECT THEREFORE DISCUSSES THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONCEPTS UNDERLYING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGULATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN NIGERIA WITH RESPECT TO EFFICIENCY AND WELFARE. IT FOCUSES ON ANALYSING STANDARDIZATION PROBLEMS, PRICING RULES AND ENTRY CONDITION RELATED TO NETWORKS AND NETWORK EFFECTS AND DERIVES PRELIMINARY POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY. IN THIS WAY, THE PROJECT PLANS TO CONTRIBUTE LEGITIMATE AND SUSTAINABLE POLICY ENVIRONMENT THAT MAXIMISES THE PUBLIC BENEFITS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES THROUGH AN EMERGING NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE FRAMEWORK.INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, NETWORKS, NETWORK EFFECTS, EFFICIENCY, WELFARE, PRICING RULES

The Telecommunications and Data Acquisition Report

Archival reports on developments in programs managed by JPL's Office of Telecommunications and Data Acquisition (TDA) are presented. Activities of the Deep Space Network (DSN) and its associated Ground Communications Facility (GCF) related to DSN advanced systems, systems implementation, and DSN operations are addressed. In addition, recent developments in the NASA SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) sky survey are summarized