Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-159). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

by Leung Hon-Kit. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-93). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.vi / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.5 / "An Account of Telecommunications Deregulation in the U.S., U.K. and Japan" --- p.6 / Major Determinants of International Telephone Demand --- p.7 / Sources of Data --- p.7 / Analysis Method --- p.9 / Chapter III. --- MODELS AND RESULTS --- p.11 / Econometric --- p.11 / Box-Jenkins --- p.29 / Chapter IV. --- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS --- p.38 / Multi-Carriers Effect --- p.39 / IVANS/Leased Circuit Effect --- p.41 / Price Elasticity of Demand --- p.42 / Impact on Dominant Carriers --- p.43 / Inference to Hong Kong Situtation --- p.44 / APPENDIXES --- p.46 / Chapter A. --- Traffic Statistics --- p.46 / Chapter B. --- Collection Charge Statistics --- p.54 / Chapter C. --- Economic Statistics --- p.56 / Chapter D. --- Charts of U.S. Telephone Traffic to Hong Kong and ARIMA Modelling --- p.59 / Chapter E. --- Charts of Hong Kong Telephone Traffic to US and ARIMA Modelling --- p.64 / Chapter F. --- Charts of UK Telephone Traffic to Hong Kong and ARIMA Modelling --- p.70 / Chapter G. --- Charts of Hong Kong Telephone Traffic to U.K. and ARIMA Modelling --- p.75 / Chapter H. --- Charts of Japan Telephone Traffic to Hong Kong and ARIMA Modelling --- p.80 / Chapter I. --- Charts of Hong Kong Telephone Traffic to Japan and ARIMA Modelling --- p.85 / Chapter J. --- Plots of Residuals of the Econometric Models --- p.90 / BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCE --- p.92

In the two years 1989-1991 the environment of Poland's telecommunications was fundamentally transformed. This dissertation is an exploratory case study addressing four principal aspects of that country's changing telecommunications: (1) telecommunication regime or the structure of rules in which telecommunication systems function; (2) telecommunication services, defined as the means and methods of communicating from a distance by processing and relaying an electro-magnetic signal (categorized into telephone, mobile, data-messaging, information, data-carrier, and entertainment); (3) telecommunication equipment, or markets for switching, transmission and terminal equipment; and (4) telecommunication subscribers, or principal characteristics of the customer-base in the residential, professional, rural and urban market segments. Each aspect is examined for the purpose of capturing the on-going change. The dissertation identifies the principal agents of change and maps the new conditions onto the models developed by Cowhey and Aronson. Institutional pluralism, market competition, shortage alleviation and market restructuring have transformed Poland's telecommunication environment from the scarcity model to a version of the boutique model.

The liberalization of the telecommunications sector in South Africa has brought about vast improvement in the take-up and use of mobile telephony, however the opposite can be said of broadband penetration. As recently as 2012, there has been some degree of stagnation in fixed telephony and broadband access. This research report explores the evolution of broadband policy and regulation over the past decade, 2003-2012. Several themes from international trends are used, as guidelines of what an integrated, efficient broadband policy should address what governance and policy leadership is necessary for driving broadband policy initiatives across all spheres of government. The study proposes a conceptual framework that informs the analysis in comparing and contrasting the national broadband policy and plans, as well as provincial and local government’s policies and plans against desirable characteristics, such coordinated planning and implementation of broadband across government. The research analyses the current state of the country’s national broadband policy and plans across the three spheres of government. The analysis considers the contextual differences between the trends studied and the local data collected in the formal research phase, for the benefit of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the South African broadband plans. The conclusion focuses on the incentive structure needed to extend the development of the broadband ecosystem in terms of infrastructure, services, applications and user involvement in the country.

Abstract The South African government embarked on a liberalisation path of the telecoms sector in 1996 in order to establish a knowledge-based society and thus enhance all aspects of the economy to make South Africa globally competitive. Liberalisation of the telecoms sector was an integral part of its overall vision to improve the quality of life for all South Africans. Market-based reform was the central philosophy underpinning the growth strategy for South Africa. ICT was recognised as key to growth and development. To date, international telecoms reform has focused on managing the transition from traditional monopoly markets to effective competition. The key steps in this process have been the commercialisation and ultimate sale of state-owned assets, licensing competitors, setting sector-specific regulation by independent national regulatory authorities to implement the market reform policies and ensure public interest objectives are met. As a result of rapidly changing technology, the unanticipated rapid and pervasive uptake of mobile services, the influence of international financial advisors and suppliers of telecoms equipment who all stand to gain, the reform process in developing countries has been controversial. Also, often after the first phase of market liberalisation, entrenched private sector incumbents make further reform in developing countries difficult. The focus of this study is on the second-phase of reform in South Africa after the initial market liberalisation. The research analysed the changing configuration and structure of the South African telecoms network market during the transition from monopoly to competition (2000- 2003) within the framework of competition rules to determine how government’s “managed liberalisation” policy and regulatory decisions have shaped (and are shaping) the competitive dynamics of the South African market. The findings were utilised to analyse its implications for the development of South Africa’s information society and provide a framework for policy-makers and regulators on effectively shaping telecoms network markets in transition. This study contextualised the South African telecoms situation within the dynamics of an international market by examining the changing role of the market in telecoms policy formulation in both developed and developing countries. This research looks at the current debates on the information society and liberalising telecoms markets in order to assess the impact of policy and regulatory interventions in selected national markets deemed relevant to this investigation e.g., United States, United Kingdom, India, Nigeria, Morocco, Uganda and Sri-Lanka. Based on an information society paradigm, the study involved multiple methods incorporating primarily qualitative research to investigate the actual development on the ground of competition in South Africa since the start of the managed liberalisation process. Secondary statistical data was utilised to understand market development and dynamics. The analysis combined competition rules and regulatory principles based on international experience together with the South African experience with sector liberalisation derived from interviews, focus groups and data analysis of the market. The study uses market structure analysis, with specific reference to telecom network markets as the basic framework of analysis. This is further enhanced by analysing the broader dynamics of the business, communications, policy and regulatory environments and an analysis of the performance of infrastructure companies in the telecoms network market in South Africa. The analysis explains how the managed liberalisation policy of the South African government has constrained growth, allowed incumbent operators to entrench themselves, generally failed to meet the needs of most consumers and limited South Africa’s aspirations to join the global information society. Despite technically meeting the form of most international best practice standards on market reform, there has been a lack of commitment to the substance i.e. effective competition, inconsistent application of regulation, the absence of a clear strategic framework and failure to undertake detailed market analysis throughout the process. The result has been artificial barriers to investment and constrained growth in the telecoms sector. In particular, a pre-occupation with the narrow licensing of individual technologies and specifically defined service classifications has created an unnecessarily complicated implementation regime hindering market development. The lack of competition at the core infrastructure level has constrained growth and innovation at the upper levels of the telecoms sector value chain, i.e. network services, that are dependent on access to the fixed line network. The study provides recommendations to increase investment in the South African ICT sector which include: clarifying national policy objectives and reviewing the current licensing framework; implementing widespread market reform; instituting market and competition review processes; allowing for increased competition review processes and increasing independence and accountability of the regulator. The research outlines strategies to counter the effects of a weak competitive environment, infrastructure and resource shortages and the lack of strong administrative structures in South Africa that are applicable to most developing countries. It suggests the following measures to drive competitive markets and enhance ICT growth: ensuring political commitment to market liberalisation and market-driven macro-economic policies; focusing on licensing major operators; instituting technology neutral licensing; reducing the need for regulatory decisions by accelerating competition and harnessing regional skills to strengthen regulatory effectiveness. Finally, this study demonstrates that ICT market development and policy is rooted in and influenced by many factors and disciplines. Thus the research suggests an integrated and holistic approach for analysing network markets in transition.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / abstract / China Area Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This thesis defends the importance of a standardized designation for the principle of technological neutrality pertaining to the Next-Generation Network (NGN) migration within a competition regime. Renaming this as the principle of techno-economic neutrality would clearly demarcate its role as promoter of inter-technological competition as well as justify the necessity of grouping the three regulatory principles of technological neutrality, competition neutrality, and network neutrality followed by their integration into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Reference Paper. The first part introduces the theoretical foundations to better define what it is and what it is not; the principle of techno-economic neutrality supports neither a total state non-intervention nor a progress reduced to a technical progress. The second part describes the parameters of the unanimous definition of the regulatory principle of techno-economic neutrality for the information and communication sectors considering competition and convergence. The triplets of neutrality would offer two guaranties: a regulatory burden balanced between the different suppliers of substitutable services and the emergence of an information and communication society protective of democratic values. / Mots-cles: Neutralite technologique, neutralite de la concurrence, neutralite de reseau, concurrence, convergence, technologies de l'information et de la communication, telecommunications, radiodiffusion, progres, progres technique, progres social, Organisation mondiale du commerce, OMC, Document de reference, reseaux de nouvelle generation, societe de l'information et de la communications, determinisme, interactionnisme, regulation, principe reglementaire, cadre reglementaire, reforme reglementaire, droit des telecommunications, droit des communications, droit des technologies de l'information et de la communication

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Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-167). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.