The postal systems in Europe, as well as in other industrialised and non industrialised countries, are currently undergoing radical changes in their institutional set-up, competitive behaviors, productive and distributive processes, range of services offered. The study of these changes and of the strategic options that become available to the different operators in this field is interesting. And this is so not only per se for the postal system but also in the perspective of the banking system and for the wider financial field, which interacts with the postal sector within a framework of competion and collaboration.

This book shows how the hybrid model, which uses both market and committee mechanisms, explains standard setting and firm competition in the mobile communications industry. The hybrid model explains why certain mobile communication standards like GSM have become global standards while others, for example digital standards supposed by US firms, have not become global standards. The hybrid model also explains why Nokia is the leading producer of mobile phones and Ericsson the leading producer of mobile infrastructure.

Call centers have revolutionized the way business gets done. This book dissects this explosively growing phenomenon, revealing new efficiency-boosting techniques, gainful technologies and applications, and profit-increasing management stratagems. Call Center Operations Profiting from Teleservices Charles E. Day, CMC In this expert guide, one of the leading computer-telecom integration (CTI) consultants in the United States shows you call center deployment and operation from the inside out. Exposing new uses, cost-cutting technologies, efficiency-boosting strategies, and assessment methods with superior accuracy, famed authority Charles E. Day makes it clear why call center operations increased by more than 700% between 1983 and 1997, and continue to grow. The heartbeats of many of today's businesses--serving functions as diverse as telemarketing, customer ordering and service, help desks, inside sales, reservations, and financial services by phone--call centers offer one of the best paradigms for coaxing every bit of efficiency-boosting power from new communications and computing technologies. In these pages, Charles E. Day, an expert who has helped hundreds of well-known businesses deploy and improve call centers, demonstrates how to maximize call center efficiency, yields, and cost savings in your business. Inside, you'll find page after page of ways to: Analyze the gains possible from call centers. Fill a variety of business needs with integrated telephone and computing technologies. Integrate telephone services and computing with efficient, effective technologies. Link databases, call handling, workstations, GUIs, legacy systems, software packages, and networks for a better bottomline. Explore practical, profitable applications of CTI in depth Test-run a call center with out-of-house resources. Get new ideas for call center uses from examples throughout the book. Expand your customer base and improve relationships with existing customers. Boost employee performance. Design a state-of-the-art call center that optimizes use of available resources and potential return. Packed with detailed strategies that translate technology into business solutions, this guide is clear enough for a novice to use. Charles E. Day's Call Center Operations is a resource likely to pay for itself by several orders of magnitude.

Choosing the right mobile phone and service plan can be overwhelming, particularly if you travel abroad - this truly international guide is ideal for the mobile executive
Experts estimate that by 2005 there will be over 1.26 billion wireless phone users around the world. (Source: Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association). It's overwhelming to think of the options available to the consumer when it comes to buying mobile phones, phone accessories, and service plans. So many people are confused by the myriad of wireless phone claims, the endless advertised rates and the countless service plans with all their options. The Consumer's Guide to Cell Phones is designed to help consumers choose what program may best suit them. This book helps streamline the wireless-buying process by providing a complete listing of all wireless providers and the details of their plans.
International listings cover USA, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. As an example, in Ireland there is coverage of Digiphone and other plans, in Australia of Telstra, in the UK Cellnet, Orange, etc.
The companion web site for the book includes a service provider database
As the mobile market continues to grow more people are looking to use their phone for fax, e-mail or mobile computing - this book has the answers

Future Directions in Postal Reform brings together leading practitioners, world-wide postal administrations, and the courier industry, as well as a number of regulators, academic economists, mailers, and lawyers, to examine some of the major policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industry. Issues addressed include international postal policy; the universal service obligation; regulation; competition, entry, and the role of scale and scope economies; the nature and role of cost analysis in postal service; productivity; interaction of law and economics; and future technologies and service standards.

The telecommunications industry is experiencing a worldwide explosion of growth as few other industries ever have. However, as recently as a decade ago, the bulk of telecommunications services were delivered by the traditional telephone network, for which design and analysis principles had been under steady development for over three-quarters of a century. This environment was characterized by moderate and steady growth, with an accompanying slower development of new network equipment and standardization processes. In such a near-static environment, attention was given to optimization techniques to squeeze out better profits from existing and limited future investments. To this end, forecasts of network services were developed on a regular planning cycle and networks were optimized accordingly, layer by layer, for cost-effective placement of capacity and efficient utilization. In particular, optimization was based on a fairly stable set of assumptions about the network architecture, equipment models, and forecast uncertainty. This special edition is devoted to heuristic approaches for telecommunications network management, planning, and expansion. We hope that this collection brings to the attention of researchers and practitioners an array of techniques and case studies that meet the stringent time to market' requirements of this industry and which deserve exposure to a wider audience. Telecommunications will face a tremendous challenge in the coming years to be able to design, build, and manage networks in such a rapidly evolving industry. Development and application of heuristic methods will be fundamental in our ability to meet this challenge.

Current Directions in Postal Reform brings together leading practitioners, worldwide postal administrations, and the courier industry as well as a number of regulators, academic economists, mailers and lawyers, to examine some of the major policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industry. Issues addressed include international postal policy; the universal service obligation; regulation; competition, entry, and the role of scale and scope economies; the nature and role of cost analysis in the postal service; productivity; interaction of law and economics; and service standards.

Using numerous practical examples,this book examines the evolution of EC telecommunications law following the achievement of liberalisation, the main policy goal of the 1990s. After reviewing the development of regulation in the run-up to liberalisation, the author identifies the methods used to direct the liberalisation process and tests their validity in the post-liberalisation context. A critical analysis is made of the claim that competition law will offer sufficient means to regulate the sector in the future. Particular emphasis is given to the way in which EC Competition Law changed in the 1990s using the essential facilities doctrine, an expansive non-discrimination principle and the policing of cross-subsidisation to tackle what were then thought of as regulatory matters. Also examined within the work is the procedural and institutional interplay between competition law and telecommunications regulation. In conclusion, Larouche explores the limits of competition law and puts forward a long-term case for sector-specific regulation, with a precise mandate to ensure that the telecommunications sector as a whole fulfils its role as a foundation for economic and social activity.

This book provides a detailed insight into China's endeavours to acquire the advanced technical competencies which lie at the heart of modern telecommunications. Distinctively detailed first hand material is presented in two contrasting case studies in the field of public digital switching systems. The book explores the deep problems that beset the former socialist system, how these are changing in the face of China's economic transition and its distinctive technological policy of 'walking on two legs'. An invaluable guide to China, The Chinese Road to High Technology also offers important insights into the issues facing other developing countries.

Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services brings together practitioners, postal administrators, the courier industry, regulators, academic economists and lawyers to examine important policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industries. This volume reviews such topics as cost and productivity analysis, universal service and entry, demand analysis and the structure of postal payment system, price regulation and competition.

The growth of the Internet has been propelled in significant part by user investment in infrastructure: computers, internal wiring, and the connection to the Internet provider. This "bottom-up" investment minimizes the investment burden facing providers. New technologies such as wireless and data transmission over power lines, as well as deregulation of telecommunications and electric utilities, will provide new opportunities for user investment in intelligent infrastructure as leverage points for Internet and broadband access.Recasting the "problem of the last 100 feet" as "the opportunity of the first 100 feet," this book challenges individuals, businesses, and policymakers to rethink fundamental issues in telecommunications policy. The contributors look at options for Internet and broadband access from the perspective of homeowners, apartment complexes, and small businesses. They evaluate the opportunities and obstacles for bottom-up infrastructure development and the implications for traditional and alternative providers at the neighborhood, regional, and national levels. Already, some argue that Internet service will become the common denominator platform on which all other services can be carried.A Publication of the Harvard Information Infrastructure Project.

Influential industry and government leaders speak out on the first major overhaul of US communications policy in over 60 years. Contributors include: F. Duane Ackerman; William P. Barr; Thomas J. Bliley; Paul W. MacAvoy; Richard D. McCormick; Gregory Sidak; Robert D. Willig; and John D. Zeglis.

Telecommunications - central to our daily lives - continues to change dramatically. These changes are the result of technological advances, deregulation, the proliferation of broadband service offers, and the spectacular popularity of the Internet and wireless services. In such adynamic technological and economic environment, competition is increasing among service providers and among equipment manufacturers. Consequently, optimization of the planning process is becoming essential. Although telecommunications network planning has been tackled by the Operations Research community for some time, many fundamental problems remain challenging. Through its fourteen chapters, this book covers some new and some still challenging older problems which arise in the planning of telecommunication networks. Telecommunications Network Planning will benefit both telecommunications practitioners looking for efficient methods to solve their problems and operations researchers interested in telecommunications. The book examines network design and dimensioning problems; it explores Operation Research issues related to a new standard Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM); it overviews problems that arise when designing survivable SDH/SONET Networks; it considers some broadband network problems; and it concludes with three chapters on wireless and mobile networks. Leading area researchers have contributed their recent research on the telecommunications and network topics treated in the volume.

Garrard provides an expert account of the growth and development of markets in the rapidly growing and profitable cellular communications industry. The author brings his invaluable insights to this authoritative analysis of business and regulatory issues, drawing lessons for current business practice. The treatment is global. Market development is described, analyzed and evaluated, bringing the reader up-to-date with current market characteristics and future trends. 514 p.

In this history of US-based direct broadcast satellite developments, the United States and other nation-states are shown to be the ultimate arbiters of their ongoing histories. In making this now unfashionable argument, Edward A. Comor directly challenges recent academic work that tends to privilege global processes over national, and argues that the contemporary world order is being shaped primarily by transnational rather than nation-state-based forces. In testing this orientation with empirical research on US foreign communication policy since 1960, Communication, Commerce and Power compels academics and policy makers to rethink commonplace assumptions about the characteristics and potentials of the contemporary and future international political economy.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act requires telecommunications carriers to subsidize Internet services to schools and libraries. Hausman shows that the FCC's proposed tax to subsidize those services is economically inefficient.

This is a research and reference guide to the telecommunications industry in the United States, providing an account of legislative and policy changes up until the publication of the work. Contributions by scholars in telecommunications law and policy survey the post-1996 legislative field, giving overviews of the 1996 Act itself, the impact of the legislation on national and international competition, regulation of the industry and the MCI/FCC cases in California, mergers and acquisitions, taxation and FCC reform.

This is a research and reference guide to the telecommunications industry in the United States, providing an account of legislative and policy changes up until the publication of the work. Contributions by scholars in telecommunications law and policy survey the post-1996 legislative field, giving overviews of the 1996 Act itself, the impact of the legislation on national and international competition, regulation of the industry and the MCI/FCC cases in California, mergers and acquisitions, taxation and FCC reform.

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.

Trans-European networks (TENs) are a key theme in the process of integration for the EU as it enters the next millennium. The attainment of these networks stretches across many different areas of European policy and economy. The development of TENs is about establishing a series of infrastructure networks that complement the broad changes in the European economy facilitated by the development of the Single European Market. The book examines the development of TENs in the three key sectors: transport, energy and telecommunications, noting key themes and issues that need to be faced in their attainment. Attention is also paid to common problems in their realisation most notably the financing problems. The EU's strategy to develop these networks is essentially market-led yet, as the financing issues indicate, a consensus between the states in allowing commercial investment in infrastructure is proving elusive.

Managing Change in the Postal and Delivery Industries brings together practitioners, postal administrators, the express industry, regulators, economists and lawyers to examine the important policy and regulatory issues facing the postal and delivery industries. This volume reviews such topics as international postal policy, the universal service obligation, regulation and competition, entry and the role of scale and scope economics, cost analysis in postal services, and service standards. This book provides a unique perspective on the problems facing postal and delivery networks.

This volume of papers by leading telecommunications experts from around the world addresses in an integrated fashion the ongoing transformation of telecommunications. The book covers technology, economics, the law, and other social sciences and focuses on both theory and policy. Major topics include the impact of new technology on networks and users, network evolution and firm structure and strategy, pricing and interconnection, demand and policy for the Internet, and competition and the United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. The papers in this book represent a unique integration of topics, appropriate for a converging industry, and they also include the first wide-ranging analysis and critique of telecommunications policy in the United States following the 1996 Act.

This book presents the result of the MART study, an action funded under the TIDE (Technology Initiative for Disabled and Elderly People) programme of the EU. TIDE supports research and development in assistive technology with the aim of contributing to the quality of life of older people and people with disabilities and encouraging European industry and markets. The book provides the first complete assessment of the opportunities presented by the Information Society for Older People and people with disabilities in Europe, and of the factors in European telecommunications and in social developments that are facilitating or inhibiting access to these. It is being published at a time when these issues are becoming increasingly considered in EU and national policy, in the strategies of the telecommunications industry and in the concerns of representative user organisations. As the MART study finished in early 1996 and the European situation is changing rapidly, a chapter has been added by the authors to take account of more recent developments.

Many professionals in the technology industry are seeking new solutions beyond the confines of the more traditional type software tools, network design solutions and distributed systems applications. The aim of this book is to provide for them a much needed upgrade of knowledge and skills by addressing the developing technical and business perspectives which have emerged from the deregulation of telecommunications, including issues connected to costs and tariffs. It also addresses a comprehensible introduction to the research, development and implementation of agents. Based on thorough research undertaken from 1993-96 in the United States, Europe and Japan, much practical material is included, with both comprehensive examples and case studies.

Cellular Telephones and Pagers is an overview of the basics of mobile telephone and paging technology and related issues. It is written for the interested layman as well as the professional looking for basic information.
The first half of the book deals mainly with the technology: operation, transmission, special-case services, and troubleshooting. The second half covers the related issues that surround the cellular industry, such as security, regulations, international markets, and future developments. The combination makes this a valuable tool for business people who want an overview of cellular systems, or for technical professionals who need to update their knowledge.
Steve Gibson is the author of several books in the telecommunications field. He makes his home in Reston, VA.
Easy-to-read, light technical approach to cellular technology.
Includes coverage of economic, regulatory, and international issues.
New advances in security and mobile communications.