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The purpose of this paper is to propose a guideline for the European Union (EU) to support high-speed broadband development based on economic frameworks and successful countries, Korea and Sweden. In the past decade, both policymakers and academic scholars have so far emphasised broadband policy mostly on the supply side. Increasing broadband adoption, nevertheless, is important for the EU to meet its Digital Agenda. Therefore, demand-side policy is also needed to stimulate high-speed broadband adoption in the EU.

This paper applies frameworks of network externalities and the information and communications technology ecosystem to provide a better understanding of the relationship between supply- and demand-side policies. In addition, Korea and Sweden, which are two successful countries in high-speed broadband development particularly their demand-side policy, are chosen as a comparative case study.

Both supply and demand sides are important to broadband policy to achieve the EU Digital Agenda 2020. It is also important for the policymakers to consider that demand-side policy should complement the implementation of supply-side policy, not substitute it. The demand side can be a great driver, especially with the development of content and applications for high-speed broadband.

This paper fills the research gap on broadband policy on the demand side which is currently limited in comparison to the supply-side studies.

There is growing concern that some groups without access to high‐speed broadband networks, e.g. those residing in rural and remote areas, will be unable to benefit from online education, health and government services, etc. Such concerns have led to arguments that universal service obligations (USOs) should be upgraded to include access to broadband. This paper reviews the arguments and concludes that, at this stage of broadband development and diffusion, there is no convincing case for USO‐type mandates. Since the case for broadband USOs should be intermittently revisited, the paper proceeds, nevertheless, to explore what would be involved in a systematic review of this issue.

Access to high-speed Internet is essential for full and consequential participation in the civic, economic, and education systems of modern life. Yet 30% of Californians continue to lack “meaningful Internet access” at home. This digital divide is worse among already disadvantaged communities and prevents rural, lower-income, and disabled individuals from fully participating in the civic, economic, and education systems of life in 2018. This chapter establishes the magnitude of the digital divide, examines the factors that contribute to the Divide, and looks at which groups are most affected. Successful government programs that invested in utility infrastructure and adoption, such as the Rural Electrification Act, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the California Advanced Services Fund, are examined to provide a foundation for broadband specific policy recommendations. The chapter sets up a framework for policy recommendations by segmenting the population based upon the concepts of material and motivational access and establishing meaningful Internet access as the goal for policy-makers. The chapter puts forth a number of specific policy recommendations to address the technological disparity and prevent it from furthering the economic and educational divides.

Presents an historic model of technologic maturation and examines five emerging information technologies projected to achieve marketplace pre‐eminence during the next three to five years that will pose transformational implications for traditional classroom‐based teacher‐mediated education.

In recent years, we can observe the emergence of firms, born both digital and global, that have disrupted existing industries. Deploying digital technologies, they have developed innovative value chains and business models that threaten established multinational companies (MNCs). In this chapter, we examine how MNCs can and do respond to the challenge digital technologies represent. We describe the main facets of digital technologies and discus the potential these have to undermine the value chains and business models of established MNCs. In order to illustrate this, we employ longitudinal data from Telenor, a leading multinational mobile telecom company. Telenor perceives digitalization as a critical threat that in turn is causing a radical rethink about the viability of its decentralized, locally responsive value chain and business model. Our data provides insights into business models in-the-making at the top management level. We argue that the case of Telenor is generalizable to multi-domestic MNCs across a range of industries.

In this keynote address, I use Georg Simmel’s sociology of social forms approach to amend Erving Goffman’s interaction order perspective into a contemporary analytical framework for empirical analysis of everyday life in our twenty-first century mediated social order. For Goffman, the interaction order provides a foundational basis for social order. As a cornerstone of the human condition, Goffman maintained that most of us spend our daily lives in the direct presence of others. However, rapid advancements in interactive media formats in the last few decades have given rise to an unprecedented twenty-first century interaction order. Many of us now also spend our everyday lives in the mediated presence of others, the effects of which parallel those of face-to-face interaction in importance. These changes, I contend, provide a necessary occasion to reimagine Goffman’s interaction order. In what follows, I first provide a brief synopsis of Goffman’s interaction order. Next, I outline the twenty-first century interaction order and illustrate the importance of Simmel’s formal sociology in amending Goffman’s original framework in relation to this unforeseen order. Finally, to highlight a few key points – I incorporate empirical examples from my work as it relates to police legitimacy. I conclude with some suggestions for future research and note a few limitations.

Over the past decade or so, successive Luxembourgish governments have sought to develop the country’s information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. In this paper, the authors will aim to examine how Luxembourg’s relative position in the “Networked Readiness Index” (NRI), a key international benchmarking exercise published by the World Economic Forum, has evolved over time as these ambitions have been achieved. The paper also explores what policy initiatives could be implemented to further improve Luxembourg’s ranking in the NRI.

A longitudinal case study-based approach, drawing on secondary data and the annual publication of the NRI between 2003 and 2016, was adopted.

Luxembourg’s position in the NRI has improved from 27th in 2003, so that it now ranks among the top ten countries in the world. In particular, Luxembourg has substantially improved its position with regards to “infrastructure” and “international connectivity”. However, there are also areas, mainly linked to education, the provision of human resources and policies that allow for and stimulate entrepreneurship where further improvements appear possible.

The paper highlights the need for an overall, holistic, ICT development strategy. Such a strategy would cover not only cover infrastructural and technical aspects but also educational, social, regulatory and economic issues as well.

The paper charts the evolution over time of Luxembourg’s position in an important international ICT index and identifies its current strengths and weaknesses in terms of the different elements that constitute the NRI. This paper represents the first attempt to investigate the position of a small country, which are often overlooked in the literature, in terms of its changing position and the policies developed and enacted by a national government.

Profiles broadband communications, wondering whether AOL Time Warner will keep its side of the bargain that promises to provide a universal telephone service, in exchange for accepting regulations regarding monopoly. Recommends that only by quality of service monitoring can AOL Time Warner be seen to be keeping its side of the bargain. Concludes that quality of service monitoring is a timely approach in the USA with regard to broadband communications systems.

An online survey was run to investigate the broadband Internet users in Britain. A sample of 1,594 Internet users replied to questions that asked them about their different uses of the Internet and reasons for using this medium. Comparisons were made between respondents (33 per cent) who said they had a high‐speed of “broadband” Internet connection and those (67 per cent) who had a narrowband connection. Broadband users were more likely to be male and older than narrowband users. Broadband respondents were also likely to be more experienced Internet users, having had longer Internet access and being more frequent users. Broadband respondents were more advanced Internet users than narrowband respondents, being more likely to engage in consumer and financial transactions online and to exchange software and files with other users. Evidence emerged among all Internet users in the sample that online behaviour was displacing off‐line media use. Internet users felt that they had reduced the time they spent in reading newspapers and watching television.

The purpose of this paper is to examine recent developments in European policy debates concerned with whether governments should intervene in the digital intermediary marketplace to protect the public’s interest.

The paper discusses the public’s interest in the evolution of the digital intermediary marketplace, considers the economics and policy literature on the case for policy intervention in the market dynamics of digital platforms and examines the extent to which policy makers in Europe are catching up with changes in the market for digital platform services.

It is argued that policy-makers need to broaden the evidence base upon which they consider whether policy intervention is needed beyond economic analysis. This is essential to ensure that the European digital intermediary marketplace develops in line with economic, social and cultural goals.

The case is made for measures to ensure continuous and integrated monitoring of developments in the digital marketplace based on economic indicators and evidence on the diversity of media content.

Suggestions are made about the need for innovations in the way policy makers develop the required evidence base for their decisions.

The paper draws attention to the need for proactive policy making based on a consideration of economic, social and cultural goals to ensure that digital intermediaries are held accountable.

The paper provides a multidisciplinary perspective on the dynamics of the digital intermediary ecology and assesses the extent to which the European digital market strategy provides an integrated initiative that is likely to be implemented.