Beyond Broadband Access: Developing Data-Based Information Policy Strategies

CHAPTER 4 Adoption Factors of Ubiquitous Broadband

69 CHAPTER 4 Adoption Factors of Ubiquitous Broadband sangwon lee and justin s. brown Broadband networks are widely recognized as an indicator of the knowledge economy. Employing secondary data, this chapter examines adoption factors of “ubiquitous broadband” that includes both fixed and mobile technologies. Along with other industry, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and demographic variables, the results of regression analysis suggest network competition between fixed and mobile broadband, platform competition in fixed broadband markets and multiple standardization policies in mobile markets are all significant factors in ubiquitous broadband deployment. However, some of these ubiquitous broadband deployment factors vary between developed and developing countries. Among other conclusions , the results of this study imply that for the initial fourth generation (4G) mobile markets, in which fixed and mobile broadband networks will converge, governments need to be open to diverse competitive standards instead of government-mandated standards. background Both fixed and mobile broadband networks are increasingly recognized as indicators of the knowledge economy. Technological innovation and higher bandwidth enable entry into the era of ubiquitous broadband access, which means broadband access anytime, anywhere, by anyone and anything through both fixed and mobile broadband.1 After all, successful diffusion of fixed and mobile broadband is necessary for the provision of advanced IP-based services such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) mobile television, and 4G applications. s. lee and j. s. brown 70 Initially broadband was defined as communication technologies that provide high-speed, always-on connections to the Internet for large numbers of residential and small-business subscribers.2 However, this conception of broadband commonly emphasizes fixed broadband services such as DSL and cable modem service. Currently the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines broadband as a network offering a combined speed of equal to, or greater than, 256 Kbps in one or both directions, which may include more diverse broadband technologies such as mobile broadband and portable Internet.3 In the near future fixed and mobile broadband technologies will be converged in the Next Generation Networks (NGN) to offer 4G services.4 In spite of this broader definition of broadband, many previous empirical studies on broadband focused only on fixed-broadband technology and did not readily analyze mobile broadband. Also, despite existing research efforts to better understand broadband deployment, previous empirical studies tended to employ limited numbers of independent variables with insufficient numbers of observations. In addition, only a few empirical studies focused on broadband factors directly related to developing countries. Employing secondary data from the ITU, this chapter analyzes the determinants of global ubiquitous (total) broadband deployment. Specifically, this chapter examines whether network competition between fixed and mobile broadband has influenced broadband deployment. It also examines whether different policy types of platform competition in fixed broadband markets and standardization policy in mobile markets lead to different deployment levels of ubiquitous broadband. Finally, we examine whether there is any difference between developed and developing countries in terms of factors contributing to ubiquitous broadband adoption. global broadband deployment According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)broadbandpenetrationdata(December2008),Denmark,Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland were the leading fixed broadband economies among OECD countries.5 With respect to wireless, there exists a wide range of mobile broadband diffusion levels across countries. As of December 2007, Korea, Japan, and Italy were the top three mobile broadband economies among OECD countries in terms of mobile broadband penetration.6 In terms of total broadband penetration rates that include both fixed and mobile broadband subscribers, as of December 2007, Korea, Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland were the top five broadband economies among OECD countries.7 adoption facto r s o f ubi qui to us broad ban d 71 concept of ubiquitous broadband A primary purpose of our study was to examine adoption factors of ubiquitous (total) broadband. The concept of ubiquitous computing was first employed in 1991 by Marc Weiser. Weiser pointed to the “invisibility” of technology through the transformation of everyday items into small computers.8 In the first paradigm of computing, mainframes were shared by many people (one computer for many people).9 Now we are moving from the personal computer era (one computer per person) to proceed to the phase of the ubiquitous computing era (many computers per person).10 With the development of mobile technologies, this notion of ubiquitous computing can be applied to ubiquitous broadband access, which means an...