MESHWR / Department of Hydrology and Water Resources / See the attached abstract below

Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) has been talked about since the introduction of fiberin the 1970s. It is nowadays shaping up to be the foundation of our newdigital society, bringing economic prosperity and a multitude of business,social, and entertainment opportunities to its users. The increased consumerdemand for high-speed network accessibility is being taken more and moreseriously and a fiber-based network is able to cope with these growing demandsdue to its wide bandwidth and reliability. Today there is a practical need forquantitative analysis regarding the socio-economic impacts of fiber-basedaccess networks. This analysis could be used as an indicator/reference for allthe stakeholder entities as they consider future investments anddevelopments. Sweden is a suitable target country for this analysis since ithas adopted fiber for some years and the benefits that FTTH has brought seemto already be tangible. The primary value of this thesis lies ininvestigation of its quantified evidence of the socio-economic impacts of FTTHdeployment in Sweden. This has been achieved based on data from the SwedishPost and Telecommunications Authority (PTS), Statistics Sweden (SCB), previousrelated studies, and information collected on-line from operators involved inthe fiber market, along with empirical analysis based on multivariateregression models. The results of the study show that fiber penetrationhas had a significant impact on the population’s evolution, specially the netamount of migration into a municipality, which indicates the attractiveness ofmunicipalities per se. It is therefore reasonable to suggest that localgovernment and local authorities take fiber deployment into consideration, ifthey want to attract people to stay for further local development. The studyalso analyzed the competition in fiber-based open networks and the prices ofsubscribing for 10/10 Mbps symmetrical Internet Service. Study findingsrevealed that networks with multiple competing service providers have a widerrange of services and a lower price: the more ISPs competing in a fibernetwork, the lower consumer prices. Specifically, for each new serviceprovider present in the network, there will be 5 SEK per month decrease of theaverage price of the Internet services, and an approximately 7 SEK per monthreduction in the lowest price. Nevertheless, a number of socio-economicimpacts remain unquantifiable as of the current time and due to the limitedavailable data. It is recommended to incorporate more socio-economic effectsin future research in order to draw a more complete picture for all theinterested sectors, and to supplement the data with recent figures for 2012and 2013. / Fiber till hemmet (Fiber-to-the-Home, FTTH) har talats om sedan fiberintroducerades på 1970-talet. Det håller numera på att bli grunden för vårtnya digitala samhälle, och bidra till ekonomiskt välstånd och medföra en mängdaffärsmässiga, sociala och underhållningsmässiga möjligheter tillslutanvändare. Den ökade efterfrågan på höghastighetsnät tas mer och mer påallvar och ett fiberbaserat nät kan hantera dessa ökade krav på grund av dessbreda bandbredd och tillförlitlighet. Idag finns ett praktiskt behov avkvantitativ analys av de socioekonomiska effekterna av fiberbaseradeaccessnät. Denna analys kan användas som en indikator och referens för allaintressenter när de överväger framtida investeringar. Sverige är ett lämpligtmålland för denna analys eftersom den har antagit fiber i några år och defördelar som FTTH har fört verkar redan vara synliga. Det huvudsakligavärdet av denna avhandling ligger i utredningen av kvantifierade bevis för desocioekonomiska effekterna av FTTH utbyggnad i Sverige. Detta har uppnåtts pågrundval av uppgifter från den Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS), Statistiskacentralbyrån (SCB), tidigare liknande studier och information som samlats inpå nätet från aktörer inom fiber, tillsammans med empirisk analys baserad påmultivariate regressionsmodeller. Resultatet visat att fiber har haft enbetydande inverkan på befolkningens utveckling, speciellt netto in- ochutflyttning till en kommun, vilket indikerar attraktionskraft kommunerna isig. Det är därför rimligt att föreslå att kommunerna och de lokalamyndigheterna överväger fiber driftsättning på allvar om de vill lockainvånare att stanna för ytterligare lokal utveckling. Studien analyserar ocksåkonkurrensen på fiberbaserade öppna nät och priserna på 10/10 Mbps symmetriskInternet-tjänst. Resultaten visar att nätverk med flera konkurrerandetjänsteleverantörer har ett bredare utbud av tjänster och ett lägre pris: jufler Internetleverantörer i ett fibernät, desto lägre konsumentpriser. Merspecifikt, för varje ny tjänsteleverantör som finns i nätverket, minskar detgenomsnittliga priset med 5 kronor per månad, och det lägsta priset med cirka7 kronor per månad. Ändå förblir ett antal socioekonomiska effekteromätbara på grund av begränsade tillgängliga data. Rekommendationen är attinförliva fler socioekonomiska effekter i framtida forskning för att dra enmer komplett bild för alla berörda sektorer, och att komplettera data medfärska siffror för 2012 och 2013.

Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The problem addressed in this research is that large-scale estate developments in the Western Cape generally have, up to now, apparently not fulfilled their potential as primary economic drivers, thus, failing to contribute in a significant manner to addressing the primary challenges facing the present-day South Africa, namely poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation. This research focused on the recently-formulated project-based Sustainable Development Initiative (SDI) approach as a strategy to optimally unlock the potential benefits of largescale development as a primary economic driver. In the research, the potential of the SDI approach in this regard was tested by comparing the envisaged performance of an SDI to be implemented in the Hoogekraal area near George in the South Cape with the performance of five selected large-scale estate developments that have been planned and developed in terms of the ‘conventional’ approach as it was defined for this research. The over-arching purpose of the research was to determine whether the project-based SDI approach, as demonstrated by the pre-development condition of the proposed Hoogekraal SDI, could make a meaningful contribution to the alleviation of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation and whether it presents an improvement in this regard on the ‘conventional’ planning, implementation and management approach for large-scale estate developments. The SDI approach, in its current, conceptual format, does not profess to be flawless. The research has left a number of questions unanswered pertaining to, in particular, the mobilisation, involvement, and required participation capacity of the communities that would be affected by an SDI. The research has indicated that the proponents of the SDI approach still have a long way to go to bridge the divergent views and evident opposition against large-scale estate development of conservation-orientated NGOs and community groups, and factions within government departments. However, the research has indicated that the SDI approach holds the promise to be an innovative strategy through which the benefits of large-scale development could be optimised for both people and the environment. The SDI approach, at least, represents an honest response to the national goals for sustainable development put forward in, amongst others, the South African Constitution. It is therefore concluded that there is merit in the claim of the SDI proponents that the SDI approach to large-scale development presents, to a larger extent than the ‘conventional’ approach, a mechanism through which this development typology can contribute to the eradication of poverty, inequality and environmental rehabilitation in partnership with local communities and other stakeholders. It is believed that this research can contribute as: a) an input in the drafting of regional and municipal development policy aimed at promoting sustainable development, for example, the spatial development frameworks prepared by municipalities in terms of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (South Africa 2000); b) a basis for the planning and implementation of large-scale estate developments in a manner that would, on balance, improve the state of any given condition in a sustainable, integrated, holistic and practical manner and in partnership with those who would be affected by the developments and those who support the ethos of sustainable development; and c) a basis for further research pertaining to the implementation and long-term management of the SDI approach at the project level, the objective being to promote the continual improvement of the approach.