Value networks and quantitative social cost-benefit analysis in telecommunications access networks

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A Small Nation in the Turmoil of the Second World War

This monograph presents an in-depth analysis of Belgium’s monetary and financial history during the Second World War. Exploring Belgium’s financial and business links with Germany, France, The Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the study focuses on the roles played by the Central Bank and private bankers in Brussels, by the Belgian government in exile in London, and by the Belgian minister plenipotentiary in New York. Among the subjects arising are: German attempts to plunder Belgium and Belgian resistance strategies; the peripeteia of the Belgian gold reserve; the role of the Belgian Congo; Belgium’s participation in the discussions leading up to the Bretton Woods conference; and the negotiations for creating a Customs Union, blueprint for the 1958 Treaty of Rome. The final part of the book analyzes the famous monetary reform devised by Belgian Minister of Finance Camille Gutt at the liberation of the country in September 1944

Cost-efficient NGN rollout

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Optimized synergy in FTTH infrastructure deployment: pragmatic as well as structural approaches

Underground installation of utility infrastructures such as energy and telecoms is prevalent in large parts of Europe. As this labor-intensive trenching comprises 70% - 80% of deployment cost, the overall investment for Fiber-to-the-Home installations can be significant. Important reductions in these costs are possible by performing road works in synergy. With the increased level of detail in the geographical information bases containing all information on the installation per operator, opportunities for synergies are easier to spot and could lead to very important reductions in the operators' costs. Policy measures recently also give a lot of focus in facilitating the rollout of high-speed broadband networks and cross-utility coordination. Several approaches can be considered to really capture potential savings and benefits in the deployment phase. This paper discusses pragmatic as well as structural approaches towards deployment cost optimization based on synergetic rollout schemes

The efficiency and effectiveness of a mixed public-private broadband deployment

Although it is widely accepted that the future telecommunications access infrastructure relies heavily on Fiber-to-the- Home (FTTH), its deployment is compromised because it requires substantial investment. As such, if the decision to go ahead with the investment is made, the partners involved should make sure the deployment and operations are performed as efficiently and effectively as possible, to ensure both economic and social viability. A deployment is efficient if achieved at minimum expense and is effective if it reaches the outlined goals. This paper analyses the impact of policy decisions affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand's public-private partnership in charge of building up a nationwide FTTH network: the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network. The paper concludes that in the context of such type of partnership a trade-off exists between efficiency and effectiveness. Although both concepts are well suited for assessing the performance of large-scale projects such as FTTH rollouts, they are not necessarily always aligned