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[RRE]Contents/abstracts for INFO Vol 1 no 5
``` [I have reformatted this. Also ... I gather that some people got a spurious automated message saying that my access to e-mail was uncertain. If so this was an unfortunate interaction between the RRE server and the kludgerous Unix "vacation" program. All apologies. Not that I'm on vacation or anything. Also, along the same lines, I am disastrously behind in my e-mail right now, not even able to keep up with high priority items. I'm working on it.]
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Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 12:33:52 +0000
From: Colin Blackman
Below is the contents list plus abstracts for Vol 1 No 5 of INFO - the journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information and media:
Info contents
Vol 1 No 5
colin blackman editorial: lots of smoke, but where's the fire?
We are used to hearing how the digization of information and convergence will transform everything in our lives from the way we do business, to the way we learn, the way we obtain health care, the way we interact socially and the way we govern ourselves. But there's still more smoke than fire yet. We have yet to see dramatic changes in our education and health systems, government services or even in the way we shop for goods and services. To be sure, some industries are being profoundly affected and perhaps the publishing and media industries are the first to really have to face up to the challenges - and opportunities - posed by the impact of the new technologies.
Michael Noll The impending death of over-the-air television
Television broadcasters have buried their heads in the sand in an effort to avoid the hard fact that over-the-air broadcast television is dying. With the continuing growth of such alternatives as cable and direct broadcast satellites, a declining minority of people obtain their television directly from over-the-air broadcasts. Now is an opportune time to examine the policy implications of the impending death of over-the-air television.
Bill Hibbert Publishing and the media industries in the digital age
Electronic publishing and electronic commerce are forecast to cause profound changes to the publishing and print media industries. Traditional ways of doing business no longer work in a world of free digital information. Media convergence is rewriting the competition rules and publishers are increasingly looking to electronic commerce and innovative ways of exploiting the new technologies to replace lost revenue from advertising. The transnational and ephemeral nature of electronic publishing and commerce activities mean that traditional approaches to regulation of media and taxation of business transactions no longer work. National governments are only now beginning to understand the profound nature of these challenges. David Souter The role of information and communication technologies in democratic development
The role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the developing world is at a crossroads. This article looks at two possible outcomes, that they become a means by which urban elites can further distance themselves from the mass of people in their societies, or that ICTs become a potential agent for social change. The article argues that the development potential of ICTs has been greatly undervalued; this potential is increasing as technology cheapens and diversifies; and ICTs offer important tools that can empower poorer communities and help reduce inequality, including gender inequality.
Thomas Kiessling and Yves Blondeel Effective competition in European telecommunications
The paper analyses, for selected EU member states and at EU level, recent policy issues with regard to infrastructure competition in telecommunications and cable TV networks. We show that differential interconnection conditions between infrastructure and service providers are in certain circumstances an efficient tool to promote infrastructure-based competition (although differential rates might be legally contestable at EU level). We find that some national governments' policy to promote specific market structures have either proven ineffective (eg France) or increase entry barriers and are likely to raise industry cost (eg Spain). Based on country studies including the USA, Canada and various EU member states, we argue that incumbent telecommunications operators should only be obliged to provide unbundled local loops where they constitute a demonstrable economic bottleneck (eg low-density areas). In addition, we argue that high-speed cable platforms (cable modems) do not currently constitute such a bottleneck and should therefore not be subject to mandatory unbundling for the foreseeable future. Andrew N. Kleit and Dennis L. Weisman Will competitors be allowed to compete? The regulation of long-term contracts in the telecommunications industry
The US telecommunications industry is on the brink of profound change. Firms and regulators are now fighting over how that change will take place. All of these battles will touch upon a crucial question: how will competitors, especially incumbent providers, be allowed to compete? In particular, a battle is brewing over whether incumbent providers can offer customers long-term contracts. Conceivably, such contracts may have anti-competitive consequences. However, the theory of contracts as anti-competitive instruments has several necessary conditions. A review of those conditions, and application of them to the telephone industry, indicates that such contracts do not meet these conditions. In addition, long-term contracts have the potential to aid consumers in numerous ways. Given this, calls to regulate such contracts can be seen as anti-, rather than pro-, consumer. We therefore urge regulators to focus on protecting competition, rather than competitors.
Andrea Michele Sacripanti report: Liberalizing telecommunications in Italy: The role of the regulator
Christopher H. Sterling conference report: 27th Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference.
Book Reviews
New International Carriers: the Guide to International Telecommunications Carriers - Asia-Pacific Edition, 1999; New International Carriers: the Guide to International Telecommunications Carriers - Europe Edition, 1999 (Christopher H. Sterling); Communications Outlook 1999 (David Wright); Jeff Papows, Enterprise.com: Market Leadership in the Information Age (Simon Forge)
Publications Received
Conference Calendar
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A sample article is available at:
http://www.camfordpublishing.com
Full text is available free to subscribers at:
http://www.catchword.com
A free 30-day trial service is also available to librarians - go to CatchWord's site and click 'Free Trial'. An electronic sample copy is available free for everyone on the CatchWord site.
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Colin Blackman Editor, Info Camford Publishing Ltd, Sidney House, Sussex Street, Cambridge CB1 1PA, UK Tel: +44 1223 509161; email: crblackman@camford.demon.co.uk http://www.camfordpublishing.com ```
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