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This paper empirically assesses the impact of the intensity of competition on investment in new technologies within the mobile telecommunications industry. Using firm level panel data and an instrumental variable estimation it finds an inverted-U relationship between competition intensity and investment. The intermediate level of competition intensity that maximizes investment stands at 62 percent, whereby competition intensity is measured by 1-Lerner index at the firm level. This means that the maximal level of investment is reached, on average, when the operating pro t represents 38 percent of total revenue. This result is rationalized through a theoretical model that yields an inverted-U relationship between competition and investment. It shows that the potential technological progress, measured by the impact of investment on the reduction of marginal cost, is the main determinant of the investment maximizing intermediate level of competition. The higher the potential technological progress, the lower the level of competition intensity that maximizes investment

Technological progress allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to carry out network manage-ment practices in a discriminatory fashion without being detected by their customers. This creates an opportunity that providers will exploit this information asymmetry in an opportunistic way by blocking and/or throttling certain services and applications without informing their customers in an adequate fashion that their Internet service is a restricted one. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the extent to which reporting policies - as im-plemented through the General Terms and Conditions (GTCs) - of selected ISPs match with the display of discriminatory behavior by those ISPs as shown by Grove & Agic, (2012). Our analysis examines whether ISPs in Europe and the USA are informing their subscribers adequately about discriminatory traffic management. We, thus, analyze GTCs, signed between ISPs and their subscribers by applying a cross-country/provider approach, focusing on three main aspects of the contractual agreement: (1) availability of service, (2) obligations of the customers and (3) the contractual agreements concerning any intervention in services by ISPs...

The cloud computing model is a modern concept of computation that provides a number of benefits for its adopters. This online computing model has been widely used in the western world and accepted to have some business and economic impacts. This paper provides some basic knowledge about cloud computing and discusses the greatest benefit which is cost reduction in fixed ICT capital and services. With such the benefit, this study attempts to find the determining factors for cloud computing adoption in various industries and proposes some policy recommendations accordingly in order to facilitate the diffusion of the innovative computing model as well as the extensive realisation of its benefit. Thailand is selected as ground for investigation. The discrete choice model of logistic regression is selected as an econometric tool to extract the relationships of different attributes and the probability of cloud computing adoption in 206 industries. The results point out significant determining factors categorised into Internet and technology; cost; and some difficulties in ICT usage. Hence, some policy implications in order to increase the possibility of adoption include an effort to improve internet capability of employees; provide some investment incentives such as tax reduction and low-cost loans for initial set-ups of cloud computing systems; and develop reliable internet network with advanced capability and low cost of use.

Network neutrality and alleged discriminatory practices on the part of ISPs regarding the transmission of Internet data packets has been the subject of notable scholarly discussion and appears to be a widespread phenomenon. However, it is noteworthy that actual consumer discrimination has only been proven in a small number of individual case studies. Hence, we aim to provide solid evidence for discriminatory behaviour of ISPS in our in-depth study. This lack of overwhelming evidence is not, as we assume, the result of an absence of discriminatory behaviour - on the contrary it may be whittled down to a number of grounds: the absence of studies comparing services offered by ISPs, the existence of high switching costs between operators accruing to consumers, and a lack of awareness on the part of consumer of the putative discriminatory measures, given the information asymmetry between ISP and consumers, where the consumer is not in a position, being able to distinguish between an impaired quality of service and potential discrimination behaviour by the ISP. The paper at hand examines ISPs' traffic management measures and determines whether such practices breach the ISP's contract with the consumer. Relying on an examination of services provided by European ISPs (France, Germany and Italy) we can conclude that data traffic is subject to discriminatory management. Our investigative model is based on M-Lab data (Glasnost Test) and related processing algorithms provided by The Network is Aware project. In order to corroborate our findings that ISPs are breaching their own contractual service agreements, the results regarding discriminatory measures are compared with the contractual General Terms and Conditions (GTC) as agreed between the ISPs and consumers...

The mobile broadband (MBB) in Swedish market has become a more attractive opportunity for service providers, with growing demand for ubiquitous broadband connectivity after the mobile operators got 3G license in 2000. MBB seems to have more advantage compare to Fixed broadband (FBB) in term of mobility, compatibility and quality of service. This paper aims to explore the current broadband situation in Swedish market, in particular whether the mobile broadband is a complementary or substitute by using descriptive analysis. The data is collected from the Post- och telestyrelsen (PTS) Survey and the secondary data from PTS during 2002-2009. The findings indicate that the MBB and FBB subscribers remain growing, but the issue of complementary and substitution between MBB and FBB cannot be given an answer at this stage. The crucial problem of comparing MBB and FBB is the different units of measurement. Also, the potential of avoiding regulation by service providers is discussed since the market participants in FBB and MBB services are the same players. The rapid growth of MBB together with a lower degree of regulation in mobile services may attract the market player to put their effort more in MBB market. Moreover, the gap between broadband infrastructure coverage and the usage of this service is huge. Thus, the inefficiency of BB infrastructure utilization becomes another issue that NRAs could consider.