Telecommunications Policy

This paper investigates the association between mobile broadband speed and labor productivity. Based on panel data of 116 countries from 2014–2019, it finds no robust contemporaneous relationship, but there is a significant association when a one-year lag of mobile broadband speed is introduced. The interpretation of the results is that a 10 percent increase in mobile broadband speed is associated with 0.2 percent increase in labor productivity. The results are only robust for non-OECD and low-income countries, respectively.

This study investigates the determinants of Internet access and its effect of it on educational inequality in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings from the study reveal that despite the increase in Internet access during the Covid-19 period, the response to the pandemic has caused education inequalities. Furthermore, economic development indicators are effective in increasing Internet access and reducing educational inequality.

Increasing interdependencies and deepening uncertainty change how the information society can be governed sustainably. In response, policy approaches worldwide are being reconsidered and new approaches developed that are more appropriate to these conditions. This research explores the conditions under which policies that worked in the past remain appropriate and when they will likely fail. It explores the role of dynamic analytical frames and a reconsideration of the normative principles of information society policies in overcoming these weaknesses.

While disparities in broadband in rural areas are well documented, little research exists about broadband in tribal communities. This gap means we lack information about the trajectory of broadband deployment in tribal areas. It also means we lack comparative information about the similarities or differences in the trajectory of broadband deployment in tribal areas compared to non-tribal areas (e.g. urban and rural areas).