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In recent years, the delivery of telecommunications services has shifted towards the use of the Internet Protocol (IP). Increasingly, new access mechanisms promise the capability and potential to deliver progressively higher speed and bandwidth-intensive applications. Moreover, this next generation of telecommunications infrastructure has been embraced by network operators in order to enhance their competitiveness. Though it is widely accepted that next-generation broadband will realize numerous commercial and socio-economic benefits, the investment uncertainties are many. For example, the financial requirements for network deployment are substantial and current-generation broadband services are still deemed adequate for many economies. The desire to understand these investment differences that exist across telecommunications markets motivates this research. The overarching research question is „how do market factors influence the development of next-generation broadband?‟. With a focus on Europe, the research explores the investment decisions made by market players in The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Through semi-structured interviews, the study investigates the definitions of Next-Generation Networks (NGN) and Next-Generation Access (NGA), the benefits associated with these network paradigms, and the drivers for investment and technological choice. Drawing on academic literature, the research builds on studies that describe the macro-economic impact of markets on investment in NGN and NGA by providing an in-depth analysis underpinned by an empirical base. For the telecommunications industry, the study provides insight and guidelines for policymakers and network investors. The research confirms the existence of a pronounced relationship between market factors and investment decisions. Path dependency, for example, plays an important role in defining NGA for market players while regulation, competition and geographic conditions are primary informants to the investment decision. A market-investment conceptual map highlighting the interplay between these issues is proposed, revealing the existence of reinforcing relationships in NGN and NGA development. More importantly, the detailed investigation into specific market conditions shows that it is the combination and interaction of the existing market factors that ultimately shape the investment decision.

The PhD thesis examines the independence in practice of telecommunications regulatory agencies in France and the UK. It builds on existing literature, which has selectively focussed on formal delegation and institutional design of 'independent' regulators, in particular, on the statutory provisions defining their formal resources and formal constraints. This thesis' central research question is whether the independence of regulatory agencies in practice reflects their formal independence. The thesis aims to explain whether and how factors other than different formal institutional arrangements influence the policy-making of the two agencies examined. It develops and applies an analytical framework for studying whether and how regulatory agencies exploit, or are hindered by, formal and informal policy resources. Building on Nordlinger's work on state autonomy, which is defined as translating preferences into action, five non-formal indicators are proposed to assess the independence of regulators in practice. Participants and resources, preferences, processes, time-length of decision-making, and outcomes, are the indicators applied to selected subcases that help to evaluate the autonomy of the two telecommunications regulators, the Autorite de Regulation des Telecommunications (ART) and the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). The findings counsel a comprehensive review of the conceptualisation of regulatory independence. The thesis shows that policy preferences guide whether and how formal institutional arrangements are used. The preference convergence and/or divergence that regulators face shape which policy resources will be deployed in support of, or in opposition to, the agencies as they pursue their policy preferences. Three of the four sub-cases relating to 3G licensing and local loop unbundling (LLU) policies developed by the two regulators show that to achieve preferences persuasion was applied more than imposition. Only in one sub-case, the French regulator actively sought to use formal resources as well as non-statutory ones. Crucially, the thesis shows the significance of non-statutory resources such as policy expertise, informal ties and 'physical' assets for the regulators and other policy participants to pursue their preferences notwithstanding national formal arrangements.

The value and scope of telecom services have increased substantially in the decade from the mid 1990s. The telecom companies have offered not only telephone services but also data exchanges for example streaming services. Therefore, they now offer telecom services as packaging into which layered services are integrated. The number of actors involved in the market has increased due to the expansion of business areas, while rapidly changing technological trends have altered R&D methods. The thesis shows that the adoption of the marketing concept and the development of complex inter-firm technology based relationships underpin the creation and management of new telecom services. The relationships have originated from an exchange of technological knowledge and specialized skills. This research uses the NTT-centred collaboration system in Japan, which features relational exchanges and high mutual dependence. This case shows that inter-firm relationships greatly contributed in the development of technological resources in two ways; collecting advantageous technologies from others and mediating in the introduction of new technologies. In addition, developments in technology resulted in an expanded domain of applicability. Consequently, not only the market structure was changed but also the relationship between marketing and R&D changed. With increasing integration of the market, the number of related firms increased as firms concentrated on specific technologies, with additional firms having superior competitive advantages in each layered business area. The case in the thesis also shows mechanisms of changing inter-firm relationships under dynamic business circumstances; indirect exchanges occurred when inter-firm relationships changed. Inter-firm relationships are changed, keeping existing but adding new relationships. The study also indicates a new direction to study service marketing. As the new trend of service development in ICT industry develops so the integration abilities and the management of inter-firm relationships in supply-sides become more focused. The thesis points to the importance of these upstream activities (coordinating inter-firm relationships in a service-oriented approach) and advocates the presence of a facilitator who can bridge both upstream and downstream activities. The results should contribute to both marketing and technology management in academia as well as business practices in R&D management.

My research analyses issues in the relationships between the state and the market, including the roles of key institutions and organisations and their interactions in the policy and regulatory governance arenas. The findings, based on documentary analysis, focus group discussions, perceptions analysis and in-depth interviews with representative actors in the public policy system in Sri Lanka, focus specifically on the linkages between the country’s institutional endowments, the reform process and regulatory governance; and the role of mental models, path dependence and ideology – specifically that of the donor and local epistemic community – in influencing economic reforms and regulatory governance. The analysis set forth in this thesis draws on Douglass North’s conceptualisation of New Institutional Economics as well as on the conceptualisation of public policy by seminal scholars in the field such as Harold Lasswell, David Easton, Bill Jenkins, Michael Hill and Wayne Parsons. These theoretical constructs are particularly useful in exploring and obtaining a rich understanding of complex institutional and policy processes and relationships, as well as policy outcomes. Moreover, this framework sits well with the interpretivist research philosophy, inductive approach and qualitative research methods which I use to gather “thick” information on privatisation, competition and regulatory governance in Sri Lanka and in Sri Lanka’s telecommunications sector. An overview of the existing literature on privatisation, competition and regulatory governance in general and in the telecommunications sector in particular, points to a paucity of public policy analyses in developing countries. As such, whilst acknowledging the limitations of single case study research in relation to policy transfer, I posit that my research findings do shed light on a number of critical issues that are relevant to scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the policy process in developing countries. My research findings provide a real world illustration of the futility of dichotomising the state and markets; instead, constructs such as policy and regulatory space are more useful than those such as the regulatory state. Incorporating these constructs of policy and regulatory space also allows for a “thick” understanding of the dynamics between political and socio-economic institutions, organisations and individuals and their impact on policy outputs and outcomes. My findings also provide for a better understanding of regulatory governance in developing countries. Constructs such as responsive regulation, regulatory society and independent regulation that are typically conceived in the literature in a developed country context are critically explored in the Sri Lankan setting. Finally, my research findings extend the literature on privatisation, competition and regulatory governance by illustrating that forces of competition and contestability are more important than ownership change in terms of policy outputs and outcomes, and that – as reflected in the case of Sri Lanka’s telecommunications sector - competition and contestability can in fact transcend forces of weak regulatory governance.

The privatisation and liberalisation of telecommunications throughout the world has resulted in the growing involvement of competition authorities in telecommunications regulation, alongside telecommunications sector-specific regulators. The existence of both sector specific rules and competition rules has brought about a critical institutional challenge. The increased role of competition authorities in the telecommunications sector raises the issue of inconsistent jurisdiction in the sector. Conflicts are therefore inevitable in the absence of clear delineation of jurisdiction. The South African model for regulation in the telecommunications sector entails a sharing of jurisdiction between the sector-specific regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and the competition-wide regulator, the Competition Commission. The study thus determines the interplay between the Competition Commission and ICASA as well as the competitiveness of South African telecommunications. / Communication Science / M.A. (International Communication))

The privatisation and liberalisation of telecommunications throughout the world has resulted in the growing involvement of competition authorities in telecommunications regulation, alongside telecommunications sector-specific regulators. The existence of both sector specific rules and competition rules has brought about a critical institutional challenge. The increased role of competition authorities in the telecommunications sector raises the issue of inconsistent jurisdiction in the sector. Conflicts are therefore inevitable in the absence of clear delineation of jurisdiction. The South African model for regulation in the telecommunications sector entails a sharing of jurisdiction between the sector-specific regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and the competition-wide regulator, the Competition Commission. The study thus determines the interplay between the Competition Commission and ICASA as well as the competitiveness of South African telecommunications. / Communication Science / M.A. (International Communication))