Regulating Convergence

The telecommunications industry has experienced dynamic changes over the past several years, and those exciting events and developments are reflected in the chapters of this volume. The Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) holds an unrivaled place at the center of national public policy discourse on issues in communications and information. TPRC is one of the few places where multidisciplinary discussions take place as the norm. The papers collected here represent the current state of research in telecommunication policy, and are organized around four topics: competition, regulation, universal service, and convergence. The contentious competition issues include bundling as a strategy in software competition, combination bidding in spectrum auctions, and anticompetitive behavior in the Internet. Regulation takes up telephone number portability, decentralized regulatory decision making versus central regulatory authority, data protection, restrictions to the flow of information over the Internet, and failed Global Information Infrastructure initiatives. Universal service addresses the persistent gap in telecommunications from a socioeconomic perspective, the availability of competitive Internet access service and cost modeling. The convergence section concentrates on the costs of Internet telephony versus circuit switched telephony, the intertwined evolution of new services, new technologies, and new consumer equipment, and the politically charged question of asymmetric regulation of Internet telephony and conventional telephone service.

Traditionally, the technologies of telecommunications, broadcasting, satellite, and computing operated independently while the industries associated with each were regulated independently along the same lines. Technological convergence challenges the vertical regulatory models of broadcasting, telecommunications, and computer services while simultaneously challenging the traditional approach to regulation by nation-states. It is time for a critical examination of regulations which support convergence while addressing the realities of the current media environment. This edited volume provides a heuristic analysis of the challenges facing regulators and media institutions. Chapters explore the nature of the laws and regulations straining under the new technological realities, consider the changes already made to accommodate the new media landscape, and examine new directions and approaches to the regulation of convergent media technologies and media institutions.

Offers a new approach to the legal issues raised by the drive for convergence in securities regulation. The author offers an informed and insightful examination of the implications for regulatory and policy design if regulatory convergence were to be rigorously implemented.

Media convergence is often propounded as inevitable and ongoing. Yet much of the governance of the media sector’s key parts has developed along discrete evolutionary paths, mostly incremental in character. This volume breaks new ground through exploring a diverse range of topics at the heart of the media convergence governance debate, such as next generation networks, spectrum, copyright and media subsidies. It shows how reluctance to accommodate non-market based policy solutions creates conflicts and problems resulting in only shallow media convergence thus far.

Analyzing the role of governments in the regulation of the new "Information Society", the ten chapters in this book stem from a seminar hosted by the European Media Regulation Seminar Group (ESRG) at the University of Warwick. Each chapter explores the regulatory responses of the UK govermentand the EU to commercial, technical and market convergence in the broadcasting, telecommunications, print media and computing sectors. The text focuses on the establishment of satellite pay-TV, telecommunications and the launch of digital terrestrial TV as they blend real andcyber-governance.

Growth in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector has exploded over the past 20 years. Continuous dynamic market and technology developments in this sector have led to a phenomenon known as convergence, which is defined in this volume as the erosion of boundaries between previously separate ICT services, networks, and business practices. Some examples include cable television networks that offer phone service, Internet television, and mergers between media and telecommunications firms. The results are exciting and hold significant promise for developing countries, which can benefit from expanded access, greater competition, and increased investments. However, convergence in ICT is challenging traditional policy and regulatory frameworks. With convergence occurring in countries across the spectrum of economic development, it is critical that policy makers and regulators understand and respond in ways that maximize the benefits while mitigating the risks. This volume analyzes the strategic and regulatory dimensions of convergence. It offers policy makers and regulators examples from countries around the world as they address this phenomenon. The authors suggest that countries that enable convergence are likely to reap the greater rewards, but the precise nature of the response will vary by country. Hence, this book offers global principles that should be tailored to local circumstances as regulatory frameworks evolve to address convergence.

This book provides an up-to-date account and analysis of the development of the European Union's regulatory framework for telecommunications in a globalising world. A key feature is its treatment of the EU's regulatory policy response to technological convergence in the information and communications sector, through its new Electronic Communications Regulatory Framework. The book explores in detail the dynamics of the complex relationship between technological and globalisation pressures, economic interests, and European and national policy responses. The authors also examine the achievements and limitations of over twenty years of EU efforts to liberalise markets and to harmonise regulation.