Climate Change: the Contribution of Telecommunications

Global targets for reductions in green house gas emissions require that all economic sectors take stock and then act to limit and to reduce their contributions to climate change. Telecommunications is no exception and while it can help other sectors make savings, the expansion of and growing intensity of use greatly increases the attributable emissions. These arise from a wide range of inputs, including travel and transportation, energy to power and to cool equipment. While reporting at the level of corporations has improved, it is neither consistent nor complete. For consumers and businesses there are almost no data on the various services they buy that might inform their own decision making and their own reporting of emissions.climate change, energy efficiency, green house gases, telecommunications.

The regulation of national roaming

National roaming is a measure that can be agreed commercially between operators to extend coverage or can be imposed or facilitated by governments as a means to increase competition amongst networks. It has been used with varying degrees of success in a range of countries, notably in the European Union. It has generally faced resistance from established operators, reluctant to assist prospective competitors and reduce their shares of the market. In some countries implementation has been so poor as to fail in the objectives. The absence of agreed procedures and performance indicators may have contributed to some of those failures. The costs of deploying third generation networks are causing some operators to look at more extensive agreements, sharing radio access networks, rather than national roaming. A further factor has been the lack of prospective entrants in mature markets, making national roaming less important than had been expected. --

The regulation of telecommunication in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

This paper reviews the application of national antitrust law and the implementation of the European Union's telecommunications directives to the markets in the United Kingdom, against the declared policy objective of raising national competitiveness. It illustrates the complexity of the systems that have been created over three decades, with complex and interlocking regulatory, self-regulatory, judicial and appellate bodies, interacting with the parliamentary systems to form a regulatory state. Where markets have failed, or thought likely to fail, the state at different levels (UK, national and municipal) has supported studies and subsidized the provision of broadband Internet access. The regulator, using its sectoral antitrust powers, agreed with British Telecom to functional separation, transferring the enduring bottleneck of local access to a separate subsidiary. While the UK describes itself as a regulatory leader this is difficult to evaluate, given the number and the frequencies of changes, nonetheless the claim seems very difficult to substantiate. --Governance,Competitiveness,Regulatory state,Great Britain,United Kingdom

Broadband : towards a national plan for Scotland

The development of national broadband plans has been used by many countries to join up different areas of governmental and regulatory activities and to set ambitious targets for ubiquitous access to and use of the latest fixed and wireless networks and services. For Scotland this requires working within EU and UK legislative frameworks, which have also provided the bulk of the finance for interventions. It also requires an understanding of the significant weaknesses of urban broadband adoption compared to other UK and EU nations and of its e-commerce supply and demand. While resources are being targeted at rural and remote areas, more are needed to close the social digital divide, which is unavoidable if the stated ambition of being world class is to be achieved

The regulation of telecommunication in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland

This paper reviews the application of national antitrust law and the implementation of the European Union's telecommunications directives to the markets in the United Kingdom, against the declared policy objective of raising national competitiveness. It illustrates the complexity of the systems that have been created over three decades, with complex and interlocking regulatory, self-regulatory, judicial and appellate bodies, interacting with the parliamentary systems to form a regulatory state. Where markets have failed, or thought likely to fail, the state at different levels (UK, national and municipal) has supported studies and subsidized the provision of broadband Internet access. The regulator, using its sectoral antitrust powers, agreed with British Telecom to functional separation, transferring the enduring bottleneck of local access to a separate subsidiary. While the UK describes itself as a regulatory leader this is difficult to evaluate, given the number and the frequencies of changes, nonetheless the claim seems very difficult to substantiate

Devolving media regulation: The Smith Commission proposals

Telecommunications researcher Ewan Sutherland argues that the Smith Commission’s proposed devolution solutions for media regulation are messy proposals that create redundant unaccountable positions and ignore important regulatory bodies

Could Scotland’s broadcasting be devolved?

Ewan Sutherland takes an in-depth look at the Scottish Trades Union Congress’s proposal for Scottish broadcasting to be devolved, considering the regulatory implications and the likelihood that this might go ahead

Broadband in Scotland : broader, faster, poorer, remoter

The provision of universal broadband Internet access in Scotland has been the subject of political promises, to support economic growth and reduce social divides. The market supplying broadband is subject to complex, multi-tiered governance. Until the UK leaves the EU, it is subject to EU aspirations, directives and regulations, which are implemented in London by the UK government and regulatory authority. There are strong path dependencies, arising from the Openreach agreement on wholesale access, between the regulator and BT, which affects both the residential and business markets. Competition in fixed broadband is primarily service-based and dependent on regulation. Mobile broadband has limited infrastructure-based competition, with incentives from UK government to extend coverage. State aid has been provided by complex means to support increased rural provision, but has not been ended, in favour of cross-subsidies. Those disinclined to use the Internet are being encouraged to do so, by local initiatives, partly to ease the digital by default strategy for government services. Brexit brings the possibility of change, by leaving the EU governance system, while the possibility of Scottish independence would require an entirely new system of market governance

Silicon Glenn; a technological Brigadoon? an analysis of the electronics and IT industries in Scotland

Series: IIR-Discussion Paper

Internet governance: Gambling on the periphery

Use of the Internet by entrepreneurs has transformed gambling. Many have notionally located their businesses away from jurisdictions with heavy taxes and intrusive regulation, to offshore centres with very low taxes and regulations intended to prove their statistics and the avoidance of money laundering. Alderney and Gibraltar have been able to generate substantial revenues by offering such terms. Antigua and Barbuda had to engage in a WTO trade dispute with the USA, which it won, but has yet to be compensated. Larger countries responded slowly, by lightening their regulations and taxes. The flows of money have attracted criminals, some of whom bribe players for spot bets or even to fix matches. Despite the centrality of the Internet to these changes, the issue of gambling has remained peripheral to Internet governance, when it could learn and when it could contribute to finding solutions