Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2002, Journalism

This dissertation analyzes the public interest discourse that accompanies the implementation of telecommunication institutional reforms in developing countries. Whereas previous research has focused on interpretations of the public interest concept by policymakers, this dissertation addresses the point of view of consumers affected by such reforms. Telecom reforms are often accompanied by official discourse emphasizing benefits in price, quality of service, and access that consumers expect to receive; this dissertation analyzes the extent to which consumers consider that these expectations have been fulfilled. The importance of the consumers' interpretation of the public interest is also emphasized by the increased attention of regulatory agencies and public utility commissions worldwide to consumer protection and education in the new regulatory environment. The dissertation focuses on the case of Mexico, a country representative of the political, economic, and social challenges faced by nations with low and middle levels of telephone penetration. Using argumentation analysis, the study reconstructs the consumers' public interest argument about telecommunications reform in Mexico, based on a purposive sample of letters to the editor published in the nationally distributed Mexican newspaper El Financiero from 1991 to 2001. The letters were coded to identify three parts of the consumers' argument: industry performance, recurrent themes, and values. Ninety-two percent of the letters were complaints about the service provided by Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex), the incumbent local exchange operator; quality of service, both equipment-oriented and people-oriented, was the area of performance that consumers complained the most about. Thematically, consumers emphasized different aspects of their relationship with Telmex that made them feel powerless before the operator. In their view, Telmex's power over consumers was increased by its close relationship with the communication (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Susan Kline (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2002, Mass Communication - Telecommunications (Communication)

The 1990s was a time of profound economic and political transformation for Thailand. Through major events of economic boom and bust, 1992 political crisis, and democratization of politics, Thailand drafted a new constitution and undertook major political and economic restructuring. Within the context of Thai telecommunications policy restructuring from the beginning of the 1992 to the end of 2000, this study describes the development of Thai Internet and analyzes the policymaking process of telecommunications industry reforms. The study employs John W. Kingdons political model of policy process and J. P. Singhs conceptual framework of factors determining telecommunications restructuring and state types in decision-making process to analyze the role of multiple policy forces and the role of the Thai state in network policy formation. While the main impetus for restructuring is Thailands aspiration to become the economic hub of Southeast Asia, a myriad of forces are found to be at work in telecommunications policy reforms. Economic integration and global liberalization agenda enforced by the WTO and the IMF have had direct impact on the countrys policymaking. Domestically, in the juxtaposition of maturing democracy and intensifying money politics, business interests become increasingly influential in telecommunications policymaking through more direct political maneuvering at the top levels. There is also a burgeoning influence from public interest groups and the Senate. The plurality of interests in the policy process hampers the ability of the state to direct policy outcome. In the system where policymaking is plagued by vested interests and political squabbles, the policymaking function of the state is seriously undermined and the development of Thai Internet suffers as a result.

Committee: Drew McDaniel (Advisor) Subjects: Mass Communications

Master of Arts in Catholic Studies, Mount St. Mary's Seminary & School of Theology, 2023, School of Theology

The constantly evolving nature of warfare confers a necessity for moral actors to continuously reassess and evaluate just war principles in light of new developments. Though less apparent than the impacts of improvements in munitions and weapon systems, modern telecommunication capabilities present significant challenges for the application of the jus in bello principles of necessity, discrimination, and proportionality in war. Conducting third-party targeting via non-firing units, employing unmanned vehicles, and executing cyber warfare are all newly possible due to advancements in electromagnetic and Internet Protocol (IP) communication. State and non-state actors around the globe are devoting considerable resources to their continued development of these capabilities, all of which have the potential to play crucial roles in future conflicts. This paper first reviews the development of just war theory and the establishment of its key elements over the course of history and examines points of debate within the theory and alternative theories outside it. It then assesses the most significant emerging telecommunication capabilities and considers how they might be viewed and employed according to the Catholic just war tradition.

Committee: Kenneth Craycraft Ph.D., J.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Theology

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

Orthodontic treatment is becoming increasingly popular among adult patients in many countries, including the United States and China. Tele-orthodontics is an effective tool for improving orthodontic care by providing easy access to medical knowledge. Integrating advanced services such as AI-assisted diagnostics can better support self-paced, patient-centered treatment for busy adults. While teleorthodontics offer opportunities to improve care quality and efficiency, it is essential to understand the complexity and potential conflicts of expected values from multiple stakeholder perspectives. In this study, we employed a service design approach to understand the orthodontic treatment experience from the perspectives of patients and orthodontists. We developed a framework considering efficiency, usability, and information accuracy in remote dentistry. Expert interviews with UI/UX designers and orthodontists and semi-structured interviews with patients and orthodontists were conducted. Co-creative ideation was used to explore potential concerns and opportunities in adopting new technologies for teleorthodontics. Our analysis revealed five themes that highlighted gaps in concerns and expectations between patients and orthodontists on teledentistry. Through divergent thinking and seeking inspiration, we developed five design considerations that can address these gaps. These include empowering doctors with control over additional knowledge, designing an engaging and user-friendly approach to simplify patient documentation, clarifying the limitations of remote orthodontic treatment, suggesting using AI as a paramedic, and providing hardware devices as a point of contact. These guidelines can help improve the efficiency and quality of care in teleorthodontics and better manage treatment processes.

Committee: Heekyoung Jung Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jue Wang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Craig Vogel M.I.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Design

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, East Asian Languages and Literatures

Some branches of neoclassical economics claim that no matter when a government interferes with the economy and attempts to spur economic growth, ultimately it will result in market distortions and failure. However, the Chinese economic miracle and China's rising standing in the world have attracted the attention of the world, proving that developing countries can following another path. Justin Yifu Lin's New Structural economics provides us with new concepts, such as industrial upgrading, transaction costs and strategic industries, that can form a new theoretical base with which to analyze the economic problems of developing countries. Through the perspective of New Structural Economics, this paper analyzes the Chinese state-owned economic system, specifically that of the telecommunications industry. This paper utilizes two to answer two important questions: 1) In order to explore whether the Chinese telecommunication industry's central enterprises are competitive, this paper takes a micro perspective by 8 years of data from these central enterprises' annual reports and analyzing efficiency, profitability, and other measures of performance. Afterward, the author compares this data with the other BRICS member states to further the analysis; 2) in order to prove whether economic growth and growth in mobile teledensity are causally related, this paper uses data from the Chinese Bureau of Statistics in order to build a dynamic panel dataset and then uses the Dumitresu and Hurlin (2012) granger non-causality test to explore the relationship between the two variables.

Committee: Xiaobin Jian (Committee Member); Jianqi Wang (Committee Member); Galal Walker (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Economics

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2007, Mass Communication - Telecommunications (Communication)

This study analyzed the role of Multilateral Organizations in Zambia's preparation of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy. The research used the qualitative research and secondary analysis methods to gather, analyze and discuss findings. It uses the political economy theoretical framework, emphasizing paradigmic approaches of modernization, dependency and globalization to explore the levels of influence from Multilateral Organizations. The study revealed that Multilateral Organizations, which include World Bank, World Trade Organization, Southern African Development Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, influenced the Zambian ICT policy process through three mechanisms: they developed protocols and guidelines which Zambia incorporated into the ICT policy; set benchmarks and targets which Zambia was obligated to implement within a specific timeframe; and utilized behavioral and resource power to extract binding commitments from the Zambian leadership involved in the policy-making process.

Committee: Don Flournoy (Advisor) Subjects: Mass Communications

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Politics

Private sector investment has become one of the most essential sources of international capital flows to developing countries. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as one type of private sector investment has the potential to drive economic growth and development. Understanding the factors that motivate or deter foreign investors from investing in a developing country therefore is crucial. This thesis examines the particular case of Pakistan and analyzes internal and external factors that have affected the inclines and declines in inflows of FDI to the country between 2000 and 2014. By performing a comparative sectoral analysis, this thesis examines the effects of government efficacy, national security, and global levels of FDI inflows on FDI inflows on three distinct sectors in Pakistan: Energy, Telecommunications, and Financial Services. The thesis argues that a rapidly deteriorating domestic situation post-2008 due to weakened governance and limited security provision within the country has increased the perceived levels of risk and uncertainty associated with investing in Pakistan. This has resulted in a sharp decline in FDI inflows to the country.

Committee: Eve Sandberg (Advisor) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Media and Communication

India is brimming with new optimism about its economic growth potential and ability to enhance its status. Democratic and demographic dividends play a crucial role in its aspiration. As a key IT player with regard to the services and allied sectors its transformation from telecom as a luxury to appreciable levels of teledensity is a narrative in itself. Its tryst with harnessing communication for development integrates the modernization approaches with all the consequent set of problems and issues. The liberal framework in which telecom reforms were initiated have spread the vision of modern handheld communication devices as harbingers of empowerment, entitlement and entertainment. Connectivity and access in the last mile is no doubt a significant variable and required a major policy articulation and push by the government. It was against this reality shared by many other nations that incremental articulations for broadband access in keeping with the vision of creating an information society were made. Through a historical institutional analysis, this study unravels the pattern leading up to one of the major initiatives by any country in the world, the BharatNet project. The rollout processes of BharatNet examined by applying academic perspectives that draw from three major strands of studies: the discourse of communication, modernization and development; the relationships in policy formation and implementation through political economy framework with regard to information and communication technologies, networks and knowledge societies and the time and space approach with regard to the dichotomies of urban and rural spaces and factors of exclusion and inclusion. The study posits an argument that discourses within a paradigm necessitate choices of technology and articulations of beneficiaries that may or may not factor them. It also reveals the many pulls and pressures are commercially dictated and pose inherent contradictions for a state that espouses a conscious (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Radhika Gajjala Dr (Advisor); Oliver Boyd-Barrett Dr (Committee Co-Chair); Clayton Rosati Dr (Committee Co-Chair); Shannon Orr Dr (Other) Subjects: Communication; Mass Communications; Technology

Master of Information and Telecommunication Systems (MITS), Ohio University, 2015, Information and Telecommunication Systems (Communication)

This thesis addresses certain technical and financial challenges associated with the deployment and operation of relay spacecraft using the Internet Protocol as the primary routing protocol. Though IP in space has been a hot topic for nearly a decade, few studies address the capabilities of management protocols being used to operate a geostationary fleet. Likewise, few have addressed the real-world cost structure of replacing a traditional bent-pipe fleet with an IP-enabled fleet. Within our research, we investigate whether SNMP, TFTP, and SCP are capable of meeting the Tracking, Telemetry, and Command requirements set by a real-world geostationary relay service provider. We also investigate the driving forces of relay deployment and operational costs, identify Rough Order of Magnitude costs for a geostationary IP-enabled relay, and define a financial profile categorizing the costs of replacing a bent-pipe fleet with an IP-enabled fleet.

Committee: Hans Kruse (Advisor); Shawn Ostermann (Committee Member); Philip Campbell (Committee Member); Wesley Eddy (Committee Member) Subjects: Aerospace Engineering; Communication; Information Science; Information Systems; Information Technology; Technology

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2001, Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning : Community Planning

Telecommunications infrastructure has largely been ignored by city officials as it lies invisible as part of the city. Recent phenomena have demonstrated that by devising telecommunications infrastructure as a part of the tools to revitalize downtown, a city could develop several layers to attract people and businesses to return. The purpose of this study is to: identify the problem and magnitude of downtown revitalization, identify the trends and forces affecting the relationships between telecommunications infrastructure and the city, formulate effective strategies based on the trends and forces to revitalize downtown and develop guidelines for the implementation of these strategies in the case of Gary, Indiana.

Committee: David J. Edelman (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2003, Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning : Architecture

By the year 2025 there will be five billion city dwellers, the majority residing in economically weak, developing countries. Due to time and distance barriers from the center city, periphery locations develop without necessary institutions, such as medical care, and struggle to gain healthy integration and development. This thesis explores urban and architectonic processes promoting connection within a standardized medical system displaced throughout the Mexican culture. The process is executed through the design of a telemedical network, connecting two geographically dislocated places through telecommunication, providing like services to distinctly different regions. A three-part medical system allows interchange amongst rural-mobile units, peripheral clinics, and interior physicians. The networked buildings are designed with a standardized, prefabricated systems approach to allow for flexibility, while rooting in location stylistically thru vernacular evolution, expanding newly defined places. A distribution of interior institutions will allow greater access to the expanding population in an effort of urban-upgrading.

Committee: Dr. Aarati Kanekar (Advisor) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Public Policy and Management

Section 271 of the Telecommunications Act allows the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) to enter interLATA telecommunications markets (previously prohibited by the Modification of Final Judgment in 1982), provided they open local telephone networks to competition. An important question is whether such policy has achieved the intended policy goals of the 1996 Act. This dissertation attempts to provide evidence of the competitive effects of RBOC interLATA entry on local telephone markets. To explore the effects of RBOC interLATA entry on local markets, I examine three dimensions of local markets: basic residential local service rates, quality of service, and investment in broadband technologies, incorporating both the supply-side and the demand-side characteristics of the market. For the analysis, I use two approaches. First, I conduct a regression analysis of panel data set composed of observations from 24 states over the period 1999-2002. The results indicate mixed effects of RBOC interLATA entry on the three dimensions. I find that RBOC interLATA entry does not have a statistically significant effect on basic residential local service rates charged by the RBOCs. The results suggest that RBOC interLATA entry has mixed effects on quality-of-service and investment in broadband technologies, with some measures showing improvements and other measures showing deteriorations or no effects. Second, focusing on the states where RBOC interLATA entry was allowed during the study period, I compare the performances of the RBOCs in the Section 271 year and those in the pre-Section 271 year and in the post-Section 271 year. The results show mixed effects of RBOC interLATA entry on various measures of the three dimensions during the three-year period—no significant effect on basic residential local service rates, mixed effects on quality of service, but significant effects on the two measures of investment in broadband technologies (high-speed lines and fiber). Although a d (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas Jones (Advisor) Subjects:

, Ohio University, 2007, Communication Theory and Process (Communication)

Universal telephone service was originally funded though a complex process of implicit cross-subsidization of local residential telephone rates from more profitable long distance and business customer service. Presently the funding is through explicit contributions from all telecommunications companies. This pool of funds is then redistributed to local telephone service providers to ensure that the goals of universal service are met. Since 2000 total telecommunications revenues have declined as have the eligible revenues for contributions to the Universal Service Fund. The taxation rate has increased on the remaining contribution base to insure adequate funding but new funding options should be considered. This research examines three funding mechanisms for universal service (i.e., taxes on telephone numbers, taxes on line carrying capacity, and reverse auctions) regarding their ability to generate revenue and their possible impacts on customers, technology, and the telecommunications network.

Committee: Phyllis Bernt (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 1999, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (Engineering and Technology)

The Traffic Data Management System (TDMS) is a product of Lucent Tech- nologies designed to satisfy the growing need for a single traffic data collection and analysis system for an entire telecommunications network. TDMS consists of one or more Data Analysis Processors (DAP) and Data Collection Processors (DCP). The TDMS Engineering Guidelines are a set of rules to plan and maintain the config- uration of the TDMS network. The current version of the Engineering Guidelines was created in 1994. This thesis describes the reason and the process to redefine TDMS DAP Engineering Guidelines and to improve the performance of TDMS. It investigates and analyzes the current TDMS network status and DAP configurations at Bell South Telephone Company, calculates and changes many DAP configuration parameters according to the data collected, and tests the changes in the field. This thesis also suggests the addition of certain execution time recording function calls at the end of TDMS processes, which would lower the usage of resource required by the system monitoring tools, and to add an on-line capability of performing the calcu- lations contained in the TDMS DAP Engineering Guidelines, which would make it more convenient and timely for TDMS administrators to make decisions on system load balancing.

Committee: Shawn Ostermann (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2006, International Studies - International Development Studies

Because of high user demand, mobile telephony penetration has surpassed fixed line penetration in much of the developing world. While growth is phenomenal, there is reason to believe that it is nonetheless tempered by corruption and poor governance. This paper is an attempt to measure the extent of said effect. The paper forms two separate models, a 93 country worldwide model and a 50 country, Africa specific model. The paper uses OLS regression to measure GDP per capita, urban population, and monthly cost of a mobile or mainline telephone against mobile penetration in both models. As a unique addition, measures of official corruption, government accountability, government stability, and the rule of law are also included as independent variables. As expected, the paper finds a statistically significant and positive correlation between mobile penetration and corruption control in the world model. However, the same relationship is not statistically significant in the Africa model. Despite higher levels of perceived corruption, corruption is not a determinant of mobile penetration in Africa. The world model shows a positive and statistically significant relationship between other governance variables and mobile penetration. The Africa model mimics these results; an ambiguous relationship between the political stability and mobile penetration is the exception. An alternative model is also developed to further explore the impact of information technology. The dependant and independent variables are reversed to determine if increased dissemination of information technologies mitigates the deleterious effects of corruption. Concerns regarding causality are tempered by lagging mobile, mainline and internet penetration. The paper finds a robust, positive relationship between reduced corruption and internet penetration and a strong, negative relationship between reduced corruption and mobile penetration. Similar regressions were run with other measures of governance. The resu (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Herbert Thompson (Advisor) Subjects: Economics, General

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2005, Mass Communication - Telecommunications (Communication)

This work presents an analysis of telecommunications outages in the US due to power loss, based on carrier reports submitted to the Federal Communications Commission. This analysis covers the outages due to power loss over an eight year period (1996 through 2003). Data collected from the reports included variables such as the date, time and duration of the outage and customers affected. A major conclusion is that the number of telecommunication power outages after the Sep 11/01 attack decreased. In addition, analysis strongly suggests that this reliability growth can be attributed to the telecommunication industry, rather than the power industry. The outage causes were categorized based on the trigger and root causes, in addition to identifying the component that is most closely associated with the root cause. The analysis indicates that many of the outages were caused by operations failures, or human errors. Outages also occurred due to either alarm system failure or insufficient response to the generated alarms. The analysis also indicates that many outages are due to violation of Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) best practices, suggesting that the power outages can be further reduced if those best practices are implemented.

Committee: Andrew Snow (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2008, Management Information and Decision Systems

Technical standards ensure compatibility among the components of complex systems. Economists and others have studied standards selection, their effects on competition, and how sub-optimal standardization outcomes vary by the mechanisms used to create them. Actual standards creation has received less attention and their wider effects on industry structures are less understood. This research addresses three questions: (i) how standards making and adoption plays out in the design and implementation of large systems, (ii) how organizational and other actors coordinate with one another, with technology, and with standards, and (iii) how the creation and adoption of standards relates to these patterns of coordination. These questions are explored using in-depth case studies of the US and UK mobile wireless and television industries. Two cases examine the development of early cellular radio standards and the data capabilities that helped transform the mobile phone into a computing and multimedia platform. Two other cases look at the TV industry, its convergence with telecom, and the emergence of mobile TV services. The cases draw upon archival sources and interviews with 42 executive level interviewees. The cases show that standards, along with the characteristics of natural phenomena, shape the coordination of technologies and organizations in these industries. Economic and some social theoretical perspectives exhibit too much technological or social determinism to satisfactorily explain the relationships between standards and industry structures observed. The actor-network based process model presented conceptualizes industry changes as the dynamic interactions among actors pursuing their standardization and other strategies. This is extended to incorporate the analytical domains proposed by Lyytinen and King (2002): the innovation space, the marketplace, and the regulatory regime. The resulting model provides a high-level view of the actor-network, and of actor-network (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen PhD (Committee Chair); Bo Carlsson PhD (Committee Member); Carsten Sorensen PhD (Committee Member); Youngjin Yoo PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Systems