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States that supply industry privatization, its restructuring and strong competition from other fuels means that constant innovation is required in the electric heating business. Credanet is such a product with central programming and remote heater control. Credanet appears similar to a traditional central heating system in its operation and offers superior controllability with its advanced electric heating appliances. Feedback from both end users and specifiers indicate it is considered superior to existing electric heating systems. Credanet’s advanced communication technology also appears suited to other domestic appliances and related areas such as metering.

The purpose of this paper is to present a frequency domain analysis of high frequency behaviour of an indoor Powerline communications (PLC) circuit in the presence of a plaster board/concrete wall structure. The main purpose of this analysis is to investigate the influence of the wall structure on the current distribution and the radiated electric field due to PLC signals in range from 3 MHz to 30 MHz.

The mathematical model is based on the full‐wave theory formulated by the Mixed Potential Integral Equation (MPIE) for the electric field due to energized thin‐wire conductors in stratified media. The solution for the current and the electric field distribution is obtained by using the Method of Moments.

Numerical results are obtained of the current distribution along the conductors of the PLC circuit and the radiated electric field in presence of a wall structure. Two cases are analyzed: when the circuitry is placed in the wall; and when the circuitry is placed outside the wall.

The paper presents the mathematical model that may be applied for analysis of indoor PLC circuits placed in presence of wall structures.

In the paper, a full‐wave model of the PLC circuitry in presence of a wall structure is developed, on the basis of MPIE and the Method of Moments.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze company slogans which play an important role in corporate identity and corporate communications.

By discussing relevant literature, morphological issues (word formation in sentences), and content analysis, the study investigates 329 companies and their slogans that operate in global and domestic markets.

The study finds that within the areas of corporate identity and corporate communications, company slogans tend to be diverse with distinct forms and morphological features. The work reveals that slogans go through evolutionary changes because of diverse markets and firms’ corporate communications and corporate identities. The study also compares and contrasts slogans from 2007 to 2013 which were used by the firms on their web sites.

Interestingly, over half of the companies did not keep their slogans in 2012/2013. Many firms have stopped using slogans on their corporate web sites and systematically capitalize on brands and corporate identities when dealing with the areas of corporate communications. This supports the notion that slogans help corporate identity and corporate communications.

The paper’s original value added is in the areas of corporate communications, slogans, and corporate identity.

To examine broadband competition and broadband penetration in a set of countries that employ the same regulation framework. To define the policy and strategy required to promote broadband in weak markets that do not employ alternative infrastructures.

Study penetration and competition level statistics from 2002 to 2005 in a set of countries with different infrastructures deployed, services provided as well as in their social‐economic structures but employing the same regulation framework. Measure the level of inter‐platform and intra‐platform competition as well as the availability of bitstream access versus the incumbents' shares.

The paper concludes that a mature broadband market is the one that exhibits a high penetration ratio in combination with a high competition level. Bitstream access can counterbalance the inexistence of alternative broadband infrastructures, especially in weak markets. In particular the availability of numerous bitstream access types in combination with the proper price differentiation can fuel broadband adoption in relatively weak broadband markets.

The paper challenges the general rule that only platform (also known as facility) based competition guarantees long‐term growth of the broadband market. Bitstream and resale access do not lag local loop unbundling and can be used in weak markets that do not employ alternative infrastructures to fuel competition in the relevant markets. Different policies and strategies must be followed, in that case, on behalf of the local NRA.

The purpose of this paper is to present an up-to-date survey on the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique with co-operative strategy, a fast-evolving fifth-generation (5 G) technology. NOMA is used for serving many mobile users, both in power and code domains. This paper considers the power-domain NOMA, which is now discussed as NOMA.

The first part of the paper discusses NOMA-based cooperative relay systems using different relay strategies over different channel models. In various research works, the analytical expressions of many performance metrics were derived, measured and simulated for better performance of the NOMA systems. In the second part, a brief introduction to diversity techniques is discussed. The multiple input and multiple output system merged with cooperative NOMA technology, and its future challenges were also presented in this part. In the third part, the paper surveys some new conceptions such as cognitive radio, index modulation multiple access, space-shift keying and reconfigurable intelligent surface that can be combined with NOMA systems for better performance.

The paper presents a brief survey of diverse research projects being carried out in the field of NOMA. The paper also surveyed two different relaying strategies that were implemented in cooperative NOMA over different channels and compared several performance parameters that were evaluated and derived in these implementations.

The paper provides a scope for recognizable future work and presents a brief idea of the new techniques that can be united with NOMA for better performance in wireless systems.

The integration of humans and machines can be achieved using Bluetooth ubiquitous networks. Ideally, the interface between users and machines should be completely seamless and transparent. A user should not need to take any physical action to have a machine react to commands. A novel application area for Bluetooth communication technology is being developed in the Massey University Smart House project, in New Zealand. The creation of a Bluetooth ubiquitous network allows the house users to be tracked and monitored throughout the house. Their specific preferences or needs can automatically be taken care of by a control computer. This paper outlines and describes this seamless application.

At present the energy generation and distribution landscape is changing rapidly. The energy grid is becoming increasingly smart, relying on an information network for the purposes of monitoring and optimization. However, because of the particularly stringent regulatory and technical constraints posed by smart grids, it is not possible to use ordinary communication protocols. The purpose of this paper is to revisit such constraints, reviewing the various options available today to realize smart‐metering networks.

After describing the regulatory, technological and stakeholders' constraints, the authors provide a taxonomy of network technologies, discussing their suitability and weaknesses in the context of smart‐metering systems. The authors also give a snapshot of the current standardization panorama, identifying key differences among various geographical regions.

It is found that the field of smart‐metering networks still consists of a fragmented set of standards and solutions, leaving open a number of issues relating to the design and deployment of suitable systems.

This paper addresses the need to better understand state‐of‐the‐art and open issues in the fast‐evolving area of smart energy grids, with particular attention to the challenges faced by communication engineers.

Building management systems — or building automation systems as they are sometimes called — are intelligent systems for controlling and managing buildings by automating those functions normally carried out by people and managing energy use. In early Facilities articles we looked at the case for building management systems primarily on their energy savings potential (Vol 1/No 2, May 1983) and on their capacity for integration with other monitoring functions (Vol 1/No 3, June 1983).

To examine the status and strategies of the broadband cable TV industry on a world‐wide basis.

Data were gathered through a review of the literature and a series of one‐on‐one interviews with key industry executives, and with consultant analysts dedicated to the industry. The SWOT technique proved useful in analyzing the organizational environment; value chain analysis was used to understand the value‐generating components of the core activities; a Boston Consulting Group product portfolio matrix identified the nature of the products offered by the industry.

Four forces were identified which had impacted significantly on the industry. These were the rise of the internet, the experience of competition for telephony services, the arrival of satellite TV, and a persistent image of poor customer service. The paper observes that recent trading results have revealed very little evidence that modified strategies are making a significant improvement in the industry's overall competitive position.

Limitations relate to scope of companies chosen for the research and by the dependence on the mainly qualitative nature of the data. Further research is required to review innovation in the light of continuing technology developments and mergers within the industry.

More radical innovation is required so that the industry can successfully address its current difficulties whilst simultaneously preparing itself for future competition.

The interview data when submitted to a strategy framework formulation exercise enabled the environmental situation of the industry to be understood and the identification of the critical success factors to achieve strategic objectives.

States that waves of liberalization are blowing across developing countries leading to the creation of new opportunities for multinational corporations (MNCs). Proposes that, MNCs respond to such new opportunities with a set of offensive moves that can give them a salient position in the newly liberalized economies. Posits that domestic firms in India respond to these offensives through a combination of three broad responses and clear emphasis on achieving pre‐emptive market position, attaining a critical size, creating national brands, exploiting national competitive advantages, adopting best international practices and altering core values.