First class postage rates have risen from six cents in 1971 to 25 cents in 1988. This rapid increase might be justifiable if service had improved commen-surately, but in fact postal service has steadily deteriorated. The Postal Service concedes that it takes ten percent longer to deliver a first class letter than it did in the 1960s, and one recent postmaster general admits that delivery may have been more reliable in the 1920s. In this volume, Adie reviews the failures of the U.S. Postal Service--an inability to innovate, soaring labor costs, huge deficits, chronic inefficiency, and declining service standards. He blames most of these problems on the postal service's monopoly status. Competition produces efficiency and innovation; monopoly breeds inefficiency, high costs and stagnation.

He also examines the experiences of other countries and other industries that may be valuable in prescribing reform for the postal service. The breakup of AT&T provides lessons that may be applied to postal reform. The long-run effects of deregulation on the airline industry are also examined. Since the postal service has serious union problems, Adie looks at the air traffic controllers' strike and other evidence on pay and labor relations in government unions. Finally, Adie examines the experiences of Canada and Great Britain with privatization of government companies. He then offers a comprehensive--and controversial--reform plan for the U.S. Postal Service, with no further monopoly privileges or taxpayer subsidies. He argues that private companies should be free to compete with the Postal Service, and it, in turn, should be free to compete in all phases of the communications business. Without privatization and deregulation, the Postal Service is doomed to continuing inefficiency, rising costs, worsening labor relations, and an increasing loss of customers to more innovative and efficient service providers. Competition would give the Postal Service a chance to enter the 21st century as a modern, efficient company. It would also give American consumers a chance to have the kind of mail service that a modern economy demands.

"Wireless Foresight" deals with the development of the wireless communications industry and technology during the coming ten to fifteen years. Telecommunications is a global business of enormous proportions and is one of the largest industries in the world.

Written in a highly accessible and simple to read manner, this book is based around four scenarios of the wireless world in 2015. The focus is on the industry (i.e. infrastructure and terminal vendors, operators, and service developers and providers) as well as on new players. Discusses the long-term developments described in the four scenarios and also short term issues, for example the challenges facing industry. Uncovers important areas for technological research and discusses the critical challenges facing industry, for example; the high cost for infrastructure, the slow spectrum release, the stampeding system complexity, radiation, battery capacity, and the threat of a disruptive market change facing the telecommunications industry. Offers a global approach whereby developments from around the world are described. Employs the method of building full-scale scenarios as opposed to just identifying trends and making predictions.

"Wireless Foresight" is an invaluable and provocative read for top and middle management, strategists, business developers, technology managers, and entrepreneurs in the telecom, datacom and infocom industries alike. It is also of great interest to financial analysts and academics.

This compilation of original papers selected from the 19th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics and authored by an international cast of economists, lawyers, regulators and industry practitioners addresses perhaps the most significant problem that has ever faced the postal sector - electronic competition from information and communication technologies (ICT). This has increased significantly over the last few years with a consequent serious drop in mail volume. All postal services have been hard hit by ICT, but probably the hardest hit is the United States Postal Service, which has lost almost a quarter of its mail volume since 2007. The loss of mail volume has a devastating effect on scale economies, which now work against post offices, forcing up their unit costs. Strategies to stem the loss in volume include non-linear pricing or volume discounts, increased efficiency and the development of new products. This loss of mail volume from ICT is one of a number of current problems addressed in this volume. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) continues to be a leading issue and concern that ICT undermines postal services ability to finance the USO is discussed. The importance of measuring and forecasting demand and costs take on even greater importance as ICT undermines the foundations of the postal business. This thought provoking book brings to bear new analyses of the most serious threat post offices have ever faced and raises fundamental questions as to the future of mail. Multi-Modal Competition and the Future of Mail is an ideal resource for students, researchers in regulation and competition law, postal administrations, policy makers, consulting firms and regulatory bodies.

Most of the literature on 5G has been in the form of standards, reports, and industry papers and articles. Because of this, researchers from non-scientific or non-engineering disciplines have struggled to understand how it is or could be operationalized and standardized across the globe. Here Peter Curwen and Jason Whalley offer the first manageable overview of 5G for a non-technical audience. This book provides a full review of the current literature, both academic and professional; an in-depth but non-technical discussion of the historical background of the development of 5G; and a broad, multidisciplinary survey of major issues including spectrum, and the licensing and launch of 5G networks throughout the world, distinguishing standalone 5G from non-standalone 5G. Throughout, there is consideration given to how operators and equipment vendors make money from mobile networks, and where money is potentially to be made in the years to come. Understanding 5G Mobile Networks: A Multidisciplinary Primer is a must-read not only for researchers and students in economics, business, strategy, and operations and logistics, but also for regulators, mobile companies, vertical operators, and anyone else interested in the development of this vital technology.

This collection presents rare documents relating to the development of various forms of communication across Africa by the British, as part of their economic investment in Africa. Railways and waterways are examined.

* Worldwide telecom spending was over $4 trillion in 2004, and virtually all 12 million businesses in the U.S. buy phone and other telecom services* Our book shows people at small and medium-sized businesses how to make sense of telecom lingo and get the best deals* Includes an overview of the major players in the telecom industry and an easy-to-understand explanation of the existing telecom infrastructure* Helps people pinpoint the telecom services best suited to their business needs, understand billing, and troubleshoot problems* Covers emerging industry trends, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and how they can help businesses cut costs

The traditionally separate Fixed, Mobile, and Internet sectors have been evolving recently toward a single sector, offering numerous implications for those involved in technology and business. It is therefore essential for telecommunication professionals to get a keen grasp of where the industry is heading. Providing a solid foundation in the industry, Introduction to Mobile Communications: Technology, Services, Markets explores the core requirements of modern mobile telecommunications-from markets to technology. It explains how wireless systems work, how mobility is supported, the underlying infrastructure, and what interactions are needed among the different functional components. The book also examines how mobile communications are evolving in order to meet the changing needs of users. The information provided in the book comes primarily from the four core modules of the Certificate in Mobile Communications Distance Learning program run by the Informa Telecoms Academy in London. Designed by a highly experienced training development team, the program examines the complex and fascinating world of mobile communications. Designed to give a broad picture of mobile communications, the book provides an excellent grounding for those involved in both business and engineering-leaving them much better equipped to fulfill roles within their current or prospective companies

This volume brings together scholars and policymakers to address the issue of telecommunications policy in developing countries. It elaborates on the position that economics and technology determine the framework for discussion, but politics makes the decision. Politics, in this case, refers to the dynamics of the power structure generated by the historical and contemporary context of state, social, economic, and cultural forces. The chapter authors address the system of information transportation -- the telecommunications sector in developing countries ranging from low-income countries with overburdened, rural roads in south Asia and Africa trying to catch up to digitalized fibre-optic superhighways in middle income countries such as Singapore.
The organization of the book reflects a contextually situated intellectual viewpoint. The first part presents a historical and conceptual introduction to changes in the organization of telecommunications. The second part analyzes the major external and internal forces that have influenced the process of private sector participation in telecommunications. The third part offers ten comparative country case studies that provide evidence of the diverse conditions, goals, and processes of the realignment of public and private tasks in the telecommunications industry. Finally, contributors address the issue of regulation from differing positions -- a pragmatic, "how-to-cope" discussion for developing country decision makers.
The diverse perspectives in this volume should provide help to developing countries in their struggle with proposals received from international banks, private investors, interested "big powers," and their consulting firms.

Originally published in 1992 this book charts the global restructuring of telecommunications industries away from the monopoly structures of the past towards increased competition, deregulation and privatization. The book's authors are international policy-makers and scholars, who examine the regulatory environment within a theoretical and historical context. The book looks at the roots of regulatory and legislative changes by discussing individually the countries at the forefront of the revolution: the UK, France, Germany, Japan and the United States. It examines the impact of new technology for consequences of change in trade and government policies.

In an increasingly interconnected world, "Communication Networks Economy" provides the rational understanding necessary to provide universal access to communication means in an efficient way. This book presents the principal elements of the economics of a network as it stands today, taking into account experiences of technicians in the field. The author gives a simplified picture of the current situation in terms of structures and architecture of a network, bearing in mind the necessary quality of service and the profitability of investments, accompanied by references to recent economic works. An overview is given on the general themes of regulation and tariff principles, and the relations between supply and demand, from the perspectives of professional and residential users and network operators. Different aspects of the present situations of networks and the incidence of the Internet on the economy are also presented. In conclusion, the reader will obtain an overview of the most significant issues likely to influence the economics of communications networks as they are today.

This compilation of original essays by an international cast of economists, regulators and industry practitioners analyzes some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world as competition from information and communication technologies (ICT) has increased. Competition has become increasingly important in the postal sector for some time in the form of alternative entrants providing mail delivery. However, the competition from ICT in the form of email and instant messaging, the Internet, Facebook and other forms of social networking and portable wireless devices such as the iPad and Kindle may be even more significant. Mail volumes are falling and the economies of scale that have made possible daily deliveries to every address are being eroded. This book assesses volume these declines resulting from this so-called `eSubstituion' and looks at the ways the postal sector can adapt to the rapid changes resulting from ICT. The impact of electronic invoicing on transactions mail, and the impact on bulk mail of electronic forms of advertising are examined. Strategies, including pricing and access policies, are discussed in the context of the increasing impact of ICT. A rethinking of the role of mail in an electronic age is taking place and this book provides the cutting-edge of this rethinking and the attempts of POs to reinvent themselves while continuing to meet the public's expectation of continuing ubiquitous daily deliveries of traditional mail products. Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in regulation, competition law, innovation and public sector economics along with institutional libraries and industry professionals will find this volume informative and useful.

This compilation of original essays by an international cast of top scholars addresses some of the major issues now facing postal and delivery services throughout the world. The European Commission and member states wrestle with the problem of how to implement the scheduled liberalization of these sectors and maintain the universal service obligation while the United States Postal Service is coming to terms with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. In addition, the book addresses the impact of electronic competition as well as other problems facing the field. The contributors analyze pressing issues such as access to infrastructure and service elements, changes in the national regulations of EU countries, forecasting mail volumes and the evolving market environment, issues surrounding universal service and others.Undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in regulation and public sector economics along with industry professionals will find this volume informative and useful.

Rollercoaster is a fast-paced and compelling business narrative that chronicles one of the most dramatic periods in business history. It is the story of Chris Gent and Vodafone.

Loved by the City as a brilliant dealmaker, Gent himself is often described by those who know him as affable and self-effacing. Yet he has somehow fostered a deeply engrained culture of ruthless ambition in those who run Vodafone in his name. But as the telecommunications sector has imploded, Vodafone has been swept along by bad news amongst accusations of poor acquisitions, over-investment and "fat cat" payouts for Gent himself. Trevor Merriden charts the dramatic rise of Gent and Vodafone and assesses the underlying forces driving the man and the company. He examines the turbulent recent history, of Gent's resignation, and asks searching questions about the future of the company.

Call centers have come, in the last three decades, to define the interaction between corporations, governments, and other institutions and their respective customers, citizens, and members. The offshoring and outsourcing of call center employment, part of the larger information technology and information-technology-enabled services sectors, continues to be a growing practice amongst governments and corporations in their attempts at controlling costs and providing new services. While incredible advances in technology have permitted the use of distant and "offshore" labor forces, the grander reshaping of an international political economy of communications has allowed for the acceleration of these processes. New and established labor unions have responded to these changes in the global regimes of work by seeking to organize call center workers. These efforts have been assisted by a range of forces, not least of which is the condition of work itself, but also attempts by global union federations to build a bridge between international unionism and local organizing campaigns in the Global South and Global North. Through an examination of trade union interventions in the call center industries located in Canada and India, this book contributes to research on post-industrial employment by using political economy as a juncture between development studies, the sociology of work, and labor studies.

Bringing together contributions from high level EU officials and prominent academic economists on one of the most exciting issues in industrial economics, this timely book aims to promote dialogue between policy and academic research, and provides a unique forum for debate on the new European regulatory framework in telecommunications. Contributing to a convergence of legal and economic approaches, The Economics of Antitrust and Regulation in Telecommunications integrates economic theory into current EU antitrust policy within the sector. The book addresses the role of competition and regulatory policies on a number of key issues in telecommunications, such as market definition, collective dominance, access to networks, and allocation of scarce resources. A must-read for anyone connected to the telecommunications sector, this book will appeal to anyone interested in European competition policy and regulation, from economic scholars and industry professionals to policymakers and policy analysts.

If the 20th Century was the American Century, it was also UPS's Century. Joe Allen's The Package King tears down the Brown Wall surrounding one of America's most admired companies-United Parcel Service (UPS). The company that we see everyday but know so little about. How did a company that began as a bicycle messenger service in Seattle, Washington become a global behemoth? How did it displace General Motors, the very symbol of American capitalism, to become the largest, private sector, unionized employer in the United States? And, at what cost to its workers and surrounding communities? Will it remain the Package King in the 21st Century or will be dethroned by Amazon?

The years since the early 1980s have seen exceptionally fast rates of change in every aspect of the telecommunications industry. These include major technology changes and the convergence of the broadcasting, information technology and telecommunications industries. The earlier view of telecommunications as a natural monopoly has now given way to one in which almost all parts are susceptible to some form of competition. Simultaneously, market structure has changed through the replacement of the former monopolistic, vertically integrated telephone companies by a variety of competing firms. These developments have been accompanied by major legislative and regulatory developments, including the passing in the United States of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and the introduction of a large number of new laws and regulations in Europe and elsewhere. The same changes have seen a massive expansion of independent regulatory agencies. This volume provides detailed reviews and commentaries on these contemporary changes in the landscape of a major industry from an academic perspective, yet in an analytical manner designed for a wide audience of academics and professionals with an interest in the telecommunications industry. The contents are set out in three main sections. The chapters in section one deal with the economic characteristics of the sector, which define the industry's structure. Sections two and three deal respectively with regulation and competition. Regulatory and competition issues continuously interact with each other, as each set of issues influences the other. The industry continues to evolve through the interaction of the various processes. Volume 1 of the handbook aims to provide an integrated set of concepts, evidence and facts that will enable the reader to understand this process.

Hardbound. The telecommunications industry is being transformed by contradictory forces: on the one hand, the trend toward global expansion by carriers, and on the other hand, fragmentation and entry in local communications. These transformations represent two sides of the same issue: a blurring of market boundaries created through technical innovation, policy liberalization, user initiatives and entrepreneurialism. The result is a complex web of overlapping network definitions, product and service markets, carrier types, technical standards, government policies, financial arrangements, and cooperative ventures. This volume discusses the complexities of these bi-polar forces and maps out the policy issues which need to be addressed today and in the future.

Since 2000, there has been an ideologically driven experiment carried out in the UK to change the postal service provided by Royal Mail, to one beholden to the mantra of competition, profit and privatisation. This is the story of those in the frontline of change.

"…take on network design and performance issues and win!" Building on the first edition’s success, this second edition includes a substantial amount of new material, particularly to reflect the growth in the importance of traffic engineering for IP. Since the publication of the first edition there has been considerable work in the IP community to make the technology QoS aware. Essentially the techniques and mechanisms required to do this are generic, but are often disguised by the use of confusing jargon. The authors keep things intuitive and easy to understand, offering a simple and imaginative approach to analytical techniques and providing a fundamental grasp of queueing methods for key switching, buffering, and traffic control functions. Armed with this second edition, engineers and students will be able to tackle the network design and performance issues of today’s - and tomorrow’s - technologies … with confidence! Features include:

• Essentials of IP and ATM performance evaluation using analysis and simulation
• Key formulas for traffic and queueing behaviour
• Practical examples, graphs and tables for design and dimensioning
• Introduction to simulation, including accelerated techniques

• Four chapters dedicated to IP queueing, resource reservation, buffer management and self-similar traffic
• Excess-rate analysis fully explained - leading to many simple-to-use solutions for both IP and ATM
• Summary chapter of traffic issues and solutions, giving a route map to all formulas, their parameters, usage and location
• An accompanying website featuring all the formulas in MathCAD files so you can try them out for yourself!

MathCAD is a registered trademark of MathSoft Inc

The postal and delivery sector has been the subject of considerable interest in recent years. This book brings together a number of contributions directed at understanding developments in the field of postal reform. The authors review the experience and plans of individual countries to provide some perspective on the problems faced in the area and the varied approaches being taken to address them. They also review key elements of policy and strategy that are important in this debate. Gradual change occurred throughout the world's postal systems during the 1990s and into the 21st century. Regulatory and legal developments, together with advances in micro-electronics, fiber optics, and electronic substitution, continue to have a major impact on the sector. Regulatory changes have been most visible in Europe with the approval of the 3rd Postal Directive for the European Union in 2008. However, Europe has not been alone in facing these changes. Legislators in the US have also attempted to respond to changes in postal markets with the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). Similar trends toward restructuring and reform of the sector are evident in other countries as well. This comprehensive book analyzes and describes the forces underlying these changes, the nature of the responses to them at national and regional levels, and some of the major challenges that postal operators, postal customers, and regulators are likely to encounter in the future. Scholars and students of regulation in general and those specifically interested in the postal and delivery sector will find this volume invaluable, as will policymakers and professionals within the industry.

Many of us may not realize that what we now call snail mail was once just as revolutionary as e-mail and text messages are today. As David M. Henkin argues in "The Postal Age," a burgeoning postal network initiated major cultural shifts during the nineteenth century, laying the foundation for the interconnectedness that now defines our ever-evolving world of telecommunications.
This fascinating history traces these shifts from their beginnings in the mid-1800s, when cheaper postage, mass literacy, and migration combined to make the long-established postal service a more integral and viable part of everyday life. Through original correspondence and public discussions from the time period, Henkin tells the story of how Americans adjusted to a new world of long-distance correspondence, crowded post offices, junk mail, valentines, and dead letters. Throughout, "The Postal Age" paints a vibrant picture of a society where possibilities proliferated for personal and impersonal communications.
""The Postal Age" is engagingly written, rich with anecdotes and observations that dramatize and illuminate the manifold facets of 'postal culture' in the antebellum United States. . . . a nuanced view of the complicated relationships between technologies and systems and social forms. "The Postal Age" is a major contribution to American social history and to the history of communications in general."--Geoffrey Nunberg, author of "Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times"

Most of us would consider the emergence of large-scale communication networks to be a twentieth-century phenomenon. The first nationwide data networks, however, were built almost two hundred years ago. At the end of the eighteenth century, well before the electromagnetic telegraph was invented, many countries in Europe had fully operational data communications systems, with altogether close to one thousand network stations.

This book gives a fascinating glimpse of the many documented attempts throughout history to develop effective means for long-distance communications. The oldest attempts date back to millennia before Christ, and include ingenious uses of homing pigeons, mirrors, flags, torches, and beacons.

The book then shows how Claude Chappe, a French clergyman, started the information revolution in 1794, with the design and construction of the first true telegraph network in France. Another chapter contains the first English translation of a remarkable document on the design of optical telegraphs networks, originally written in 1796 by the Swedish nobleman Abraham Niclas Edelcrantz.