In 1889 uniformed post boys were found moonlighting in a West End brothel frequented by men of the upper classes. "The Cleveland Street Scandal" erupted and Victorian Britain was gripped by the possibility that the Post Office - a bureaucratic backbone of nation and empire - was inspiring and servicing perverse passions. The alliance between transgressive sex and the Post Office that the scandal illuminated was neither incidental nor singular; there was something queer about the post in the nineteenth century. Postal Pleasures tells the story of queer postal relations, from Post Office reforms initiated in 1840 up to the imperial end of the nineteenth century. It tells this story by analysing literature that expresses the cultural consequences of this peculiar kind of "going postal." Victorian writers abandoned the epistolary novel in favour of postal fiction. The postal network, its uniformed employees and its material trappings - envelopes, postmarks, stamps - were used to signal and circulate sexual intrigue. For Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, Eliza Lynn Lynton, Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Edward Carpenter, Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and others, the idea of an envelope promiscuously jostling its neighbours in a post boy's bag, or the notion that secrets passed through the eyes and fingers of telegraph girls, was more stimulating that the actual contents of correspondence. By the period's end, the postal system had become both an instrument and a metaphor for sexual relations that crossed and double-crossed lines of class, marriage and heterosexuality.

There are many data communications titles covering design, installation, etc, but almost none that specifically focus on industrial networks, which are an essential part of the day-to-day work of industrial control systems engineers, and the main focus of an increasingly large group of network specialists.
The focus of this book makes it uniquely relevant to control engineers and network designers working in this area. The industrial application of networking is explored in terms of design, installation and troubleshooting, building the skills required to identify, prevent and fix common industrial data communications problems - both at the design stage and in the maintenance phase.
The focus of this book is 'outside the box'. The emphasis goes beyond typical communications issues and theory to provide the necessary toolkit of knowledge to solve industrial communications problems covering RS-232, RS-485, Modbus, Fieldbus, DeviceNet, Ethernet and TCP/IP. The idea of the book is that in reading it you should be able to walk onto your plant, or facility, and troubleshoot and fix communications problems as quickly as possible. This book is the only title that addresses the nuts-and-bolts issues involved in design, installation and troubleshooting that are the day-to-day concern of engineers and network specialists working in industry.
* Provides a unique focus on the industrial application of data networks
* Emphasis goes beyond typical communications issues and theory to provide the necessary toolkit of knowledge to solve industrial communications problems
* Provides the tools to allow engineers in various plants or facilities to troubleshoot and fix communications problems as quickly as possible

EU Telecommunications Law provides a comprehensive overview of the current European regulatory framework as it applies to telecommunications and examines the challenges facing regulators in this sector. Key chapters focus on the selection of appropriate regulatory models that serve to encourage effective investment in next-generation networks and ensure their successful deployment. Andrej Savin provides an up to date overview of all the relevant sources, guiding the reader through these disparate materials in a simple and systematized way. In particular, the book provides analysis of the 2016 proposal for a European Electronic Communications Code (EECC). Using the 2009 Regulatory Framework on electronic communications as a basis the author analyses each of the 2009 framework?s five main directives, comparing them with the changes proposed in the EECC. Providing a comprehensive introduction to the main areas of EU telecoms regulation, this book will be of great value to telecoms and IT lawyers. It will also appeal to academics carrying out research in IT law or competition law as it relates to IT and telecoms.

In Precarious Battle tells how labour broking was defeated in the South African Post Office (SAPO). Labour broking has become synonymous with worker exploitation. By 2011, a third of SAPO’s workforce was employed through labour brokers. These ‘casuals’ worked alongside permanent employees, some for over a decade, but for a quarter of the salary.

David Dickinson shares the story of how labour broking provided cheap and compliant labour, and how the use of labour brokers in SAPO divided the workplace and the workforce. He charts the attempts of casuals to organise within the law and how their efforts were defeated at every turn. He describes the increasing ferocity of the wildcat strikes that followed and explains how eventually 294 casuals, the Mabarete, fought their own battle and ended labour broking.

This book reflects on how labour broking created misery for those trapped in precarious employment, how the Constitution failed casual workers and how the South African industrial relations system is unravelling.

EU Telecommunications Law provides a comprehensive overview of the current European regulatory framework as it applies to telecommunications and examines the challenges facing regulators in this sector. Key chapters focus on the selection of appropriate regulatory models that serve to encourage effective investment in next-generation networks and ensure their successful deployment. Andrej Savin provides an up to date overview of all the relevant sources, guiding the reader through these disparate materials in a simple and systematized way. In particular, the book provides analysis of the 2016 proposal for a European Electronic Communications Code (EECC). Using the 2009 Regulatory Framework on electronic communications as a basis the author analyses each of the 2009 framework?s five main directives, comparing them with the changes proposed in the EECC. Providing a comprehensive introduction to the main areas of EU telecoms regulation, this book will be of great value to telecoms and IT lawyers. It will also appeal to academics carrying out research in IT law or competition law as it relates to IT and telecoms.

During the early modern period the public postal systems became central pillars of the emerging public sphere. Despite the importance of the post in the transformation of communication, commerce and culture, little has been known about the functioning of the post or how it affected the lives of its users and their societies. In Postal culture in Europe, 1500-1800, Jay Caplan provides the first historical and cultural analysis of the practical conditions of letter-exchange at the dawn of the modern age. Caplan opens his analysis by exploring the economic, political, social and existential interests that were invested in the postal service, and traces the history of the three main European postal systems of the era, the Thurn and Taxis, the French Royal Post and the British Post Office. He then explores how the post worked, from the folding and sealing of letters to their collection, sorting, and transportation. Beyond providing service to the general public, these systems also furnished early modern states with substantial revenue and effective surveillance tools in the form of the Black Cabinets or Black Chambers. Caplan explains how postal services highlighted the tension between state power and the emerging concept of the free individual, with rights to private communication outside the public sphere. Postal systems therefore affected how letter writers and readers conceived and expressed themselves as individuals, which the author demonstrates through an examination of the correspondence of Voltaire and Rousseau, not merely as texts but as communicative acts. Ultimately, Jay Caplan provides readers with both a comprehensive overview of the changes wrought by the newly-public postal system - from the sounds that one heard to the perception of time and distance - and a thought provoking account of the expectations and desires that have led to our culture of instant communication.

This international volume presents a comprehensive, comparative study of the transformation of the European telecommunications industry from 1990 to the present. The book focuses on the old incumbent operators and their dramatic change from state agencies to listed companies. It analyzes the liberalization process, as well as the corporatization and privatization of these companies. The contributors assess the conditions for the transformations taking place; the driving forces for change; the effects to management, the efforts of the EU during these processes, and ultimately, the role of the private owner. Political science publications have all but excluded analysis of the newly privatized companies; their contribution to the liberalization process both before and after privatization; and the interplay between the national political and company levels. The book redresses this shortcoming, and also features a double empirical focus in that the main national incumbents in Europe are analyzed and compared to Telenor, the Norwegian former incumbent.

This book explores the important role that economic performance measurement is playing in the regulation of network utilities in many countries today. The contributors to the book - researchers from academia, regulatory agencies and consulting firms - address the use of efficiency measures in price regulation and in assessing the effects of past regulatory reforms. Industries examined include electricity supply, water supply, telecommunications and airlines, across a range of countries including the USA, UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.Performance Measurement and Regulation of Network Utilities is unique in that, unlike many other books in this area, it is devoted to the use of performance measurement in these regulatory settings. It is a timely contribution to the literature, given that performance measurement is an integral part of the new incentive regulation methods which have been adopted by many regulatory agencies around the world. Academics specialising in regulation and performance measurement and students of regulatory economics courses, organization studies and public sector economics will all find this book of great interest. It will also appeal to regulators, regulatory consultants and regulatory sections of major utilities.

"Ninety-nine percent of Filipinos are waiting for a telephone and the other one percent for a dial tone." - Lee Kuan Yew, November 1992. A decade after the above quote, far reaching reforms in the telecommunications sector has dramatically changed the situation in both the Philippines and Malaysia. By looking at the institutions and actors that drove these changes, this book examines state capacity, market reform, and rent-seeking in the two countries. In doing so, the study challenges conventional depictions of the Malaysian and Philippine states. It contends that despite the weakness of the Philippine state, reform occurred through a coalition that out-manoeuvred vested interests. In Malaysia, although considered a strong state, patronage and rent-seeking played key roles in policy adoption and implementation. The study also demonstrates how the nature of groups supporting reform shapes policy implementation and its outcomes. Finally, while liberalisation removes monopoly rent, this book shows that it can also create other types of rents.

Because the wireless industry is less capital intensive than others sectors in the telecommunications marketplace, it is expected to enjoy continued profitability. With survival at stake, telecommunications companies must ready themselves for battle to win access and operations rights in the wireless communications spectrum. This book maps out the strategies required to fight this battle by explaining how a telecommunications company should structure its entry and operations in the spectrum.

Western and Central Europe contains both strong established and new, emerging markets for US and European mobile communications companies. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the current status and future integration prospects in these markets, with clear, in-depth explanations of standards, regulations and technology. Markets are identified and compared, showing where future growth will happen and when.

Based on a policy-making theoretical framework and on the recent experiences of 10 developing countries, this study explores the factors that lead to the success or failure of telecommunications reform. It provides universal conclusions that might help predict the success or failure of telecommunications policies, such as, privatization and liberalization, in other nations that are moving towards reform. This book is an original contribution to our understanding of the rapid and often complex transformations in telecommunications policies. It defies previous assumptions about conditions for success and failure of policy implementation. Although numerous publications deal with telecommunications policy reform in Europe or the United States, little has been written about it in the developing world. This book fills the gap and will be invaluable for academics, policy makers, and others concerned with communications, economic development, and international business.

Essays, based on five years of survey research in Iowa and case study examples from across the United States, examine the implications of telecommunications technologies for rural community development. Supported by data from five years of survey and case study research, telecommunications adoption and use is explored in nine sectors of the rural community to determine the influence these organizations and institutions have on telecommunications development within the broader rural community. These sectors include local government, economic development, business, newspapers, library services, health care, university extension to communities, and farming. Also considered are the factors that promote and retard telecommunications development, particularly the impact of telecommunications policy, the availability of state-of-the-art infrastructure and service, and the involvement of telephone companies in local community development. Using a community development framework, this work discusses the physical, financial, human and social capitals necessary for holistic community development and the significance of critical mass, the roles of internal and external networks, as well as vertical and horizontal linkages, and the importance of visionary leadership and the championing of telecommunications.

Social Science and telecommunications scholars will appreciate the interdisciplinary approach these case studies represent. In addition, this research is intended to assist local leaders, community service providers, businesses, community officials, and state policy makers in capturing the potential benefits of innovative telecommunications technologies for local economic development, while avoiding potential problems and pitfalls. Essays are organized in three sections. The first presents theory, policy, and issues within a community development framework. The second discusses perspectives and actions of community sectors in their adoption and use of telecommunications. The third examines what occurs within an organization as it implements a new telecommunications system. Charts and graphs enhance the text and a glossary of terms is provided.

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the complex interrelationship between technological change, globalisation, 'Europeanisation', national institutional structures, and the transfer of ideas in the reform of European telecommunications regulation.Globalisation, Convergence and European Telecommunications Regulation analyses the achievements and limitations of over twenty years of EU efforts to liberalise markets and to harmonise regulation. A key feature is the author's 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. A key finding is persistent Member State diversity in regulatory implementation alongside remarkable policy convergence on a new institutional model for the telecommunications sector. An overarching trend is the emergence of distinct features of a 'regulatory state', at national and EU level, in the telecommunications sector. Contributing to the ongoing debate on the role of the EC and the extent to which EU telecommunications policy can be described as 'supranational', this book will strongly appeal to academics, researchers, students and practitioners involved in the fields of technology, public policy and European studies.

Broadband technology is ushering the telecom industry through a unique period of change with profound business implications for suppliers and users. This single source describes the four major broadband technologies that are shaping telecommunications networks: frame relay; optical fiber (including SONET); distributed queue dual bus (DQDB); and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM).

Combines four approaches to the subject: the reporting of newsworthy developments, the analysis of these developments, the synthesis of decisions and events occurring over widely dispersed areas, and the author's judgment and opinion about the significance of these events. Chapters discuss the indus

The recent European Council Directive 114/08 requested the EU Member States to perform an assessment aimed at the identification and designation of the so-called European Critical Infrastructures (ECI). Every analysis of the results of the "first round" of identifications and designations has only taken into account the numbers of ECIs effectively designated, consequently leaving aside all of the other elements related to this important path towards a harmonized vision of the "European Security." This work, with its unprecedented approach, focuses on the elements that have maximized or frustrated the ambitious European objectives and on the issues that might have prevented the directive reaching its full potential. Furthermore, the study offers an in-depth perspective on the lessons learned - including those that can be learned from the US pre-post 9/11 CIP policies - as well as an assessment of the state of play of the Member States after the implementation of the directive, together with predictions for future challenges.

This book examines and compares policy making in telecommunications in Britain and France over the last three decades. The book examines questions related to liberalization, regulation and the role of the nation state in an increasingly international economy.

After pioneering this technology and growing the market, COMSAT fell prey to changes in government policy and to its own lack of entrepreneurial talent. The author explores the factors which contributed to this rise and fall of COMSAT.

This work describes all aspects of service provision, from the definition of customer need to the day-to-day techniques of managing customer satisfaction. It includes guidelines for negotiating a service level agreement, methods for understanding the customer's requirements, and the identification of key issues associated with help-desks and customer assistance centres. The book is intended for IT and telecommunications managers, service suppliers, system architects, designers and help-desk staff in businesses using networks and communications services to achieve high level services.

This book is a systematic comparative study of WTO and EU law relevant for universal service provision, and a timely contribution to the ongoing scholarly and policy debates about the concept and scope of universal service. Universal service is one of the most significant regulatory issues worldwide and it is likely to remain so. The central question dealt with by the author is how the technologically intensive sector of telecommunications services can be regulated in a socially fair way in the light of liberalisation and the immense importance of ICTs in the Information Society. The author investigates whether the legal frameworks of WTO and EU can meet the challenges of the rapid and dramatic technological and social change and formulates relevant policy recommendations. The book is of interest to both scholars and practitioners in several disciplines, such as EU and WTO law, telecommunications law and regulation, political science regarding market regulation and governance as well as European integration and WTO. Olga Batura is affiliated to the Leuphana Law School, University of Luneburg, Germany, and to the European Humanities University in Vilnius, Lithania.

This book examines the 'new' areas of telecommunications technology, focusing particularly on fixed data communications (including the internet) and mobile telecommunications (including the mobile internet). A sectoral systems of innovation approach is used as a conceptual framework for the analysis of the telecommunications sector, in terms of equipment, access and content. The authors consider the emergence and expansion of new technologies and explore how the sectoral system of innovation is evolving and how previously independent systems are now converging. In particular, they address the question of equipment production and the provision of intangible service products such as internet access and content. By addressing the production of both goods and services, they highlight the critical interdependence of service innovations and manufacturing innovations. Some of the specific topics discussed within the book include: * the challenges for Europe of fixed data communications * second and third generation mobile telecommunications systems * data communication via satellite and television subsystems * the dynamics and trends of the internet services industry * policy implications for the future of the telecommunications sectoral system of innovation. The book is a comprehensive theoretical, empirical and policy oriented account of the emergence and evolution of the sectoral system of innovation of the internet and mobile telecommunications. It will be an invaluable source of reference for academic researchers and policymakers in the fields of macroeconomics, industrial economics and innovation, as well as consultants and firms operating in the communications industry.

Worldwide, postal and delivery economics is the subject of considerable interest. The postal industry's business model is in drastic need of change. Notably, the European Commission and member states are still wrestling with the problems of implementing liberalization of entry into postal markets, addressing digital competition, and maintaining the universal service obligation. In the United States, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 has, perhaps, exacerbated some of the problems faced by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Currently, the USPS has serious financial problems because of difficulties it faces in making changes and the failure of the Act to address problems that have been long-standing. Electronic competition is severe and affects post offices (POs) worldwide, which have been slow to address the threat. This book addresses this new reality and includes discussion of how POs may attempt to reinvent themselves. Parcels and packets will play a major role in developing new business models for postal operators. This book is of use not only to students and researchers interested in the field, but also to postal operators, consulting firms, utilities, regulatory commissions, Federal Government Departments and agencies of the European Union and other countries.