High-speed Broadband Networks Research Articles

Impact of digital infrastructure construction on financial development: Evidence from the “broadband China” Strategy

The “Broadband China” has enabled China to achieve leapfrog development in the construction of its high-speed broadband networks, thereby accelerating the development of digital infrastructure and unleashing the potential for financial sector growth. This has created a strong impetus for economy to shift towards high-quality development. An in-depth understanding of the empirical correlation between the development of digital infrastructure and financial progress is absent, leaving an unexplored domain of research concerning the impact of the “Broad China” strategy on financial agglomeration (Finagg), financial scale (Finscal), and digital finance (Digfina). In order to evaluate the dynamic impacts of this policy on financial development, this research builds a multi-period difference in differences (DID) model using panel data from 269 prefecture-level cities between 2011 and 2020. The study concludes that the “Broadband China” policy significantly fosters the growth of Finagg, Finscal, and Digfina, in China, and found that the “Broadband China” policy has a significant impact on the regional heterogeneity of financial agglomeration and digital finance. There are significant variations in the effects of this policy on different regions, while the regional heterogeneity differences in the impact on financial scale are relatively small. Additionally, the three mediating variables of technological innovation, fund support, and talent agglomeration play a mediating role in the mechanism of digital infrastructure on financial development.

Towards an Australian Digital Communications Strategy

In the early 21st century, governments developed national broadband plans to supply high-speed broadband networks for the emerging digital economy and to enable digital services delivery. Most national broadband plans are now focused on moving to ever faster networks, but there is a growing need to develop national digital communications strategies to focus on the demand-side of the broadband “eco-system”. In this paper, we outline the approaches adopted by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Korea to assist in the development (or renewal) of Australia’s national broadband strategy, or, as we prefer, national digital communications strategy. The paper draws on the lessons learned from the case-study countries and the recent pandemic and considers some theoretical aspects of the broadband ecosystem. We conclude by suggesting a process to re-evaluate Australia’s national digital communications strategy as it rolls forward, and to incorporate recent international trends to develop demand-side policies to enable greater adoption and use of existing broadband infrastructure and digital services.

A Partnership Between Rural EMS and AT&T FirstNet to Provide Tele-emergency Care.

This report from the field describes a partnership between an academic medical center emergency department, rural emergency medical services, and AT&T FirstNet, a nationwide high-speed broadband network for public safety, to pilot-test clinical consults via telemedicine in a medically underserved area. We describe the methods, outcomes, and implications for practice.

Net neutrality and high-speed broadband networks: evidence from OECD countries

Network neutrality regulations are intended to preserve the Internet as a non-discriminatory, public network and an open platform for innovation. Whereas the U.S. reversed its regulations in 2017, returning to a less strict regime, the EU has maintained its course and recently revised implementation guidelines for its strict and rather interventionist net neutrality regulations. To this day, there exist only a few empirical investigations on the impact of network neutrality regulations, based on rather broad measures of investment activities for individual countries. Our paper provides the first estimation results on the causal impact of net neutrality regulations on new high-speed (fiber-optic cable-based) infrastructure investment by Internet service providers. We use a comprehensive and most recent OECD panel data set for 32 countries for the period from 2000 to 2021 covering the entire high-speed broadband network deployment period. We employ various panel estimation techniques, including instrumental variables estimation. Our empirical analysis is based on theoretical underpinnings derived from a simplified model in a two-sided market framework. We find empirical evidence that net neutrality regulations exert a significant and strong negative impact on fiber investments. Our results suggest that, while we cannot provide evidence on the overall welfare consequences of net neutrality, imposing strict net neutrality regulations clearly slow down the deployment of new fiber-based broadband connections.

Remote and Indigenous Broadband: A Comparison of Canadian and US Initiatives and Indigenous Engagement

This paper compares funding and other policies for broadband for rural and Indigenous regions initiated by the Canadian and US regulators and policy agencies. In 2016, the CRTC determined that broadband was to be considered a basic service available to all Canadians and set targets for universal broadband at 50 mbps download and 10 mbps upload speed. The Commission also recognized that public sector funding could be required to accomplish the goal of extending broadband to rural and remote regions, but deferred addressing specifics of a broadband fund. In 2019, the CRTC initiated a consultation on draft criteria for a broadband fund. It then published a call for proposals and has provided funding for several projects. Based on comments from small and Indigenous providers who participated in the consultation, the CRTC opened a further proceeding on barriers to deployment of broadband and then on regulatory measures to make access to poles and other existing terrestrial infrastructure more efficient. In the U.S., among FCC broadband funding programs that include rural and Tribal regions are the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will commit at least $20.4 billion over the next decade to support high-speed broadband networks in rural America (approved in 2020 by the previous administration) and the Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund, a broadband subsidy for consumers, announced in January 2021. The FCC also opened a Rural Tribal Priority Window for licenses to use 2.5 GHz spectrum for networks on Tribal lands in 2020. This paper compares the issues raised and policies adopted or proposed by the CRTC and the FCC concerning remote and Indigenous broadband access and affordability, and activities related to Indigenous engagement in policy and regulatory issues in each country. It concludes with lessons from the Canadian and US regulatory experience that can be relevant for rural and Indigenous regions in other countries.

An assessment of estimation models and investment gaps for the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in NUTS3 regions to meet the objectives of the European Gigabit Society

This paper analyses the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in the European Union (EU). Its aim is to assess the investment required to meet the targets set by the European Commission (EC) for 2025, within the framework of the European Gigabit Society (EGS). This plan aims to ensure the availability and take-up of very high-capacity fixed and wireless networks, in both urban and rural areas, among households and the main socio-economic drivers. The estimation model presented here uses a methodology supported by data at the local (NUTS3) level to give a bottom-up estimation of the investment gap for each of the EGS objectives, using three different scenarios depending on the mix of wired and wireless technologies offered. The methodology and estimation model used in the paper are examined against other examples and assumptions available in the literature. We also offer a dynamic perspective on the analysis of the evolution of this investment gap over the years 2017–2019, which includes an assessment of the usefulness of these estimation models. The paper concludes by identifying the need for new measures to attract investment from public and private sources, mostly in rural areas, since purely market-driven initiatives fall short by about two-thirds of the required total investment. We also highlight how estimation models, despite their apparent complexity and number of assumptions, have a proven capacity to provide sufficiently accurate figures to guide policy action at the local, regional, national and supra-national levels. The usefulness of these estimation models could be enhanced by the availability of homogeneous and stable information on socio-demographics and on the level of coverage and take-up of broadband networks, at least at NUTS3 level.

A retrospective study on the regional benefits and spillover effects of high-speed broadband networks: Evidence from German counties

This study aims to assess the economic benefits of high-speed broadband within and across neighboring counties in Germany. Utilizing a balanced panel dataset of 401 German counties with data from 2010 to 2015 as well as different panel estimation techniques, we find that an increase in average broadband speed has a significantly positive effect on regional GDP in the average German county. Furthermore, we find that broadband deployment in German counties induces not only substantial economic benefits in terms of direct effects within counties but also positive regional externalities across counties. According to our estimation results, an increase in average bandwidth speed by one unit (1 Mbit/s) induces a rise in regional GDP of 0.18%. This effect is almost doubled if we also take regional externalities into account (0.31%). Moreover, we find that regional agglomeraton effects are of particular relevance for rural counties. Our cost-benefit analysis of subsidies based on conservative estimates suggests efficiency gains, as the total economic per capita benefits (€164) of subsidy programs to encourage broadband expansion exceeded their associated per capita costs (€114).

Public policy targets in EU broadband markets: The role of technological neutrality

The European Commission has recently sought to substantially revise how it regulates the telecommunication industry, with a key goal being to incentivise investment in high-speed broadband networks. Ambitious goals to incentivise investment in high-speed broadband networks have been set across the European Union, initially in the ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’ and more recently in its ‘Gigabit strategy’. These goals reflect the view of many that there are widespread and significant socio-economic benefits associated with broadband. Our analysis explores the consequence of target setting at a European level, in terms of encouraging investment and picking which technology should be adopted within the context of technological neutrality. We demonstrate that while public policy targets might implicitly favour specific technologies, especially when gigabit targets are defined, the technological choices that occur within individual Member States are shaped by the complex and dynamic interaction between a series of path dependencies that may vary significantly across as well as within Member States. Adopting an ecosystem perspective, we propose a conceptual framework that identifies the key factors associated with technological neutrality and informs a rational decision-making process.

Germany ∙ The Regulation of VDSL2 Vectoring Technique: Local-Loop Unbundling between Competition and High-Speed Broadband Networks

Germany ∙ The Regulation of VDSL2 Vectoring Technique: Local-Loop Unbundling between Competition and High-Speed Broadband Networks

Impact of very high-speed broadband on company creation and entrepreneurship: Empirical Evidence

This paper analyzes to what extend the local presence of very high-speed broadband networks has a causal impact on the creation of new businesses and sole proprietorships. Estimations are performed using micro-level panel data covering almost 5000 municipalities in metropolitan France, from 2010 to 2015. A count modeling approach with time- and municipal-fixed effects is first developed. It shows heterogeneous effects across sectors. Municipalities with a very high-speed broadband network tend to be more attractive for companies, with a positive effect on establishment creation within the tertiary sector and the construction sector. In addition, these municipalities seem to provide a more favorable environment for entrepreneurship. However, the benefits of very high-speed broadband are not equally distributed across municipalities and depend on the educational attainment of the population.

A Novel HWRR-SJF Scheduling Algorithm for Optimal Performance Improvement in LTE System

In currently, the revolution in a high-speed broadband network is the requirement and also endless demand for high data rate and mobility. To achieve above requirement, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has been established the Long Time Evolution (LTE). LTE has established an improved LTE radio interface named LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and it is a promising technology for providing broadband, mobile Internet access. But, better Quality of Service (QoS) to provide for customers is the main issue in LTE-A. To reduce the above issue, the packets should be utilized by using one of the most significant function of packet scheduling to upgrading system performance via determines the throughput performance. In existing scheme, the user with poor Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) has smaller throughput issue is not focused. In this paper, a Hybrid Weighted Round Robin with Shortest Job First (HWRR-SJF) Scheduling technique is proposed to enhance efficient throughput and fairness in LTE system for stationary and mobile users. In this proposed scheduling, to schedule users according to a different criterion like fairness and CQI. HWRR-SJF Scheduling has been proposed for scheduling of the users and it produces increased throughput for various SNR values simulated alongside Pedestrian and Vehicular moving models. The proposed method also uses a 4G-LTE filter or Digital Dividend (DD) in order to align the incoming signal. The digital dividend is used to remove white spaces, which refer to frequencies assigned to a broadcasting service but not used locally. The proposed model is very effective for users in terms of the performance metrics like packet loss, throughput, packet delay, spectral efficiency, fairness and it has been verified through MATLAB simulations.

A Novel HWRR-SJF Scheduling Algorithm for Optimal Performance Improvement in LTE System

In currently, the revolution in a high-speed broadband network is the requirement and also endless demand for high data rate and mobility. To achieve above requirement, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has been established the Long Time Evolution (LTE). LTE has established an improved LTE radio interface named LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and it is a promising technology for providing broadband, mobile Internet access. But, better Quality of Service (QoS) to provide for customers is the main issue in LTE-A. To reduce the above issue, the packets should be utilized by using one of the most significant function of packet scheduling to upgrading system performance via determines the throughput performance. In existing scheme, the user with poor Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) has smaller throughput issue is not focused. In this paper, a Hybrid Weighted Round Robin with Shortest Job First (HWRR-SJF) Scheduling technique is proposed to enhance efficient throughput and fairness in LTE system for stationary and mobile users. In this proposed scheduling, to schedule users according to a different criterion like fairness and CQI. HWRR-SJF Scheduling has been proposed for scheduling of the users and it produces increased throughput for various SNR values simulated alongside Pedestrian and Vehicular moving models. The proposed method also uses a 4G-LTE filter or Digital Dividend (DD) in order to align the incoming signal. The digital dividend is used to remove white spaces, which refer to frequencies assigned to a broadcasting service but not used locally. The proposed model is very effective for users in terms of the performance metrics like packet loss, throughput, packet delay, spectral efficiency, fairness and it has been verified through MATLAB simulations.

Capital, Neoliberalism and Educational Technology

I have been asked by experienced colleagues what neoliberalism means and why it is relevant in educational technology. To me, the link seems obvious but let me set out some of the links between neoliberal political economy and educational technology. Educational technology has a relatively long history (Cuban 1986) and this commentary is restricted to computing and digital technologies in education. Currently, digital technologies are established features throughout education. Indeed the core digital presence of many educational institutions is the Learning Management System (LMS) (Virtual Learning Environment, or VLE, in the UK). These systems retain many of the features found in early applications of computer conferencing and even their look and feel hasn’t moved on significantly since the introduction of a graphical user interface (GUI). The really significant advances in technologies have been in devices, networks and memory, with a movement from desktop personal computers and mainframe computers to mobile phones and tablets connected to high-speed networks and the cloud. Institutional islands and dial-up facilities have changed to high-speed broadband networks accessed via mobile and Wi-Fi connections linked to extensive storage. Technological changes are sometimes seen as the dominant driver of social change, a kind of technological determinism. However, in the same time period that technology changed, there was a political and economic transformation of the world economy from a competition between capitalism and socialism, with a developing ‘third world’, to a single global system differentiated into geographical regions and nation states. Capital is triumphant, the economy is global in scope, and the state has been reduced in the face of resurgent markets. Perhaps, surprisingly, there has been little focus on the relationships between the global resurgence of capital, in market-led neoliberal forms, and the characteristics of those educational technologies and institutions that emerged at the same time (for an exception see Selwyn and Facer 2013). This commentary addresses that perceived gap by outlining possible connections between capital, neoliberal politics and educational technology and suggesting a revised educational response.

A survey on content awareness challenges in IPTV delivery networks

Nowadays, with the evolution of digital video broadcasting, as well as, the advent of high speed broadband networks, a new era of TV services has emerged known as IPTV. IPTV is a system that exploits the high speed broadband networks to deliver TV services to the subscribers. From the service provider viewpoint, the challenge in IPTV systems is how to build delivery networks that exploits the resources efficiently and reduces the service cost, as well. However, designing such delivery networks are affected by many factors including choosing the suitable network architecture, load balancing, resources waste, and cost reduction. Furthermore, IPTV contents characteristics; particularly size, popularity, and interactivity play an important role in balancing the load and avoiding the resources waste for delivery networks. Ignoring the content status in solving delivery networks issues particularly replica placement, request distribution, and resource allocation problems leads to load imbalance, which in turn, leads to performance degradation in IPTV system. In this survey paper, we introduce IPTV delivery networks terminology and taxonomy. Upon that, we investigate the challenges related to the contents’ awareness in those delivery networks. At the end of the paper, we propose a content-awareness in ITV delivery networks and CDN as the future direction and discuss its importance in different aspects as request redirection, resource allocation, and replica placement.

A Retrospective Study on the Regional Benefits and Spillover Effects of High-Speed Broadband Networks: Evidence from German Counties

There is still hardly any empirical evidence on how divergent broadband technologies, and, by extension, bandwidth levels, influence GDP growth, or on the extent of spatial externalities at a regional level. Our study aims to assess the economic benefits of high-speed broadband networks within and across neighbouring counties in Germany. Utilizing a balanced panel dataset of 401 German counties with data from 2010-2015 as well as different panel estimation techniques, we find that the availability of high-speed broadband (which enables transfer rates of 50 Mbit/sec and higher) has a small but significant positive effect on regional GDP growth in the average German county, when compared to normal broadband availability. Furthermore, we find that broadband deployment in German counties induces substantial economic benefits in terms of direct effects and regional externalities. According to our main estimation results, an increase in bandwidth coverage of 50 Mbit/sec and higher by one percentage point induces a rise in regional GDP of 0.05%. This effect is almost doubled if we also take regional externalities into account and is of particular relevance for urban counties. Furthermore, our cost-benefit analysis suggests substantial efficiency gains, as the total economic benefits of subsidy programs to encourage broadband expansion substantially exceeded their associated costs.

Residential Broadband Deployment and Regional Employment: Evidence From China

The Information Communication Technology plays an irreplaceable role in all aspects of human life and social production as a general purpose technology. High-speed broadband network has become the focus in recent years, with the continuous development of ICT. Existing literature mainly studies its economic impact in developed countries. The practice of broadband in developing countries has been overlooked. This paper fills the gap by exploiting a broadband development program in China. The difference-in-differences estimates show that the deployment of high quality broadband promotes regional employment, especially employment in skilled service sector. The positive effect is larger in cities with better developed tertiary industry and more educated residents. We also find broadband development stimulates innovation. These findings imply that broadband promotes the upgrading of China’s industrial structure and brings new impetus to its economic transition by shifting labor force from the secondary to tertiary industry.

A study on the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in NUTS3 regions within the framework of digital agenda for Europe

This paper investigates the high-speed broadband situation in the EU and its prospects. It uses a deployment model to estimate the investment required to meet the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) broadband targets set by the European Commission in its Europe 2020 strategy at different stages: as of 2016, after expected operators’ deployment, after public subsidies and leveraged investment, and as expected in 2020. The model uses data at the NUTS3 level, which is the most granular level that has data available on the status of broadband deployment, to arrive at a coherent and comparable framework. From the different perspectives on the investment to meet DAE targets, the paper concludes on the need for an appropriate combination of incumbent and alternative operators investments, public subsidies and leveraged investments, and new investments, both public and private and non-existing as of 2016, examining their feasibility and the impact of different regulatory, technical, and policy strategies.

Key Planning Factors for Deploying Ubiquitous Wi-Fi Networks in Hotels

The Internet has changed the way in which people work and live. Many when traveling expect to be Internet-connected at all times without being tied down to physical wires, just as in their offices and homes. Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) enables hotel guests with wireless-capable computers and devices to easily access high speed broadband networks within the coverage area. According to J.D. Power and Associates 2016 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study, the most important amenity noted by guests was free Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi, initially deployed in public spaces, is now an expected room amenity. Providing reliable and robust Wi-Fi coverage throughout a hotel requires careful implementation planning for technical as well as business-related factors. This article identifies and discusses key Wi-Fi planning factors and their implications for wireless network architecture decisions in hotel environments.

Access to broadband Internet and labour force outcomes: A case study of the Western Downs Region, Queensland

This paper examines the causal effect of household access to broadband Internet on individuals’ labour market outcomes in an Australian rural and regional context. This study uses the survey data of 391 households randomly selected from the Western Downs Region of Queensland, Australia, and employs the propensity score matching technique to make causal inferences. This study also controls selection bias issues – an aspect which has been overlooked in previous studies. This study found that the causal effect of household access to broadband Internet on individuals’ labour force outcomes is not statistically significant. This finding can add value to our knowledge of the causal relationship between broadband access and labour force participation. As the rollout of a high-speed broadband network in rural and regional Australia is currently underway, the finding can be considered a benchmark for subsequent assessment of the effects of such infrastructure development on socio-economic outcomes.

‘Digital by Default’ and the ‘hard to reach’: Exploring solutions to digital exclusion in remote rural areas

In the UK, the geography of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure required for Internet connectivity is such that high speed broadband and mobile phone networks are generally less available in rural areas compared with urban areas or, in other words, as remoteness and population sparsity increase so too does the likelihood of an area having no or very poor broadband connectivity. Against a policy backdrop of UK Government efforts to bring forward network infrastructure upgrades and to improve the accessibility of broadband services in locations where there is a weak commercial investment case, this paper considers the options for the ‘final few’ in the prevailing ‘Digital by Default’ public services context. The paper outlines the Rural Public Access WiFi Services project, a study focused upon enabling Internet connectivity for commercially ‘hard to reach’ rural areas in the UK. The Rural Public Access WiFi Services concept and the experiment are introduced before findings from a pilot deployment of a broadband service to households in a remote rural area, who may be classified as ‘digitally excluded’, are presented. The paper then reflects on our field experiment and the potential of the Rural Public Access WiFi Services service model as a solution to overcoming some of the digital participation barriers manifest in the urban–rural divide. Early indications show that the Rural Public Access WiFi Services model has the potential to encourage participation in the Digital Economy and could aid the UK Government’s Digital by Default agenda, although adoption of the model is not without its challenges.