In the last decade, the technology, regulation, and industry structure of our information infrastructure (telephone services, cable and broadcast television, and myriad new data and information services) have changed dramatically. Since the break-up of AT&T's Bell System monopoly, telephone services in the United States are no longer purchased from a single firm. Advances in fiber optics, wireless communications and software-controlled switching are changing how communication services are provided. As the global economy grows more dependent on a hybrid mix of interconnected networks, public officials in the US and abroad are relinquishing control of the market. All of these changes are affecting the quality and reliability of the telecommunications infrastructure, but informed discussions of the public policy and economic issues are scarce. Deregulation and increased competition have lowered prices, but have service quality and reliability suffered? Do advanced network technologies which make it possible to offer a dizzying array of new services increase vulnerability to system-wide failures? Who should or is likely to bear the costs of increased -- or decreased -- service quality? This volume tackles the economic and public policy issues raised by these difficult questions for an audience of industry executives, scholars, and policymakers. Leading scholars and analysts examine such issues as the effects of network ownership on incentives to invest in quality improvements and/or strategies for quality-differentiated pricing in tomorrow's broadband, integrated networks. They analyze the quality of current telecommunications networks and the impact of re-regulation on cable television quality. The contributions range from new microeconomic theory to new empirical research. As such, the volume makes a valuable contribution to the public debate on network quality and reliability. It will be useful both as an introduction to newcomers and as a resource for more experienced researchers. As regulatory, industry and national barriers to integrated communications fall, these issues are likely to become even more important. The research presented here provides a solid foundation for further discussion.

Competition within the telecommunications companies is growing fiercer by the day. Therefore, it is vital to ensure a high level of quality and reliability within all telecommunications systems in order to guard against faults and the failure of components and network services. Within large scale systems such quality and reliability problems are ever higher. The metrics of Quality and Reliability have to date only been available in journals and technical reports of companies which have designed or produced major parts of systems used in large applications. This book provides a self-contained treatment enabling the reader to be able to produce, define and utilise the metrics of Quality and Reliability required for the design and implementation of a large application such as a world class event as the Olympic Games. An additional outcome is that this book can be used as a guide for producing an ISO standard for large scale Systems such as the Olympic Games. * Provides presentations of techniques used for solving quality and reliability problems in telecommunications networks replete with illustrations of their applications to real-world services and world class events * Individual chapters written by respective international experts within their fields This will prove highly informative for Practising engineers, researchers and telecommunications professionals, academics and graduate students in telecommunications, standards bodies and organisations such as ISO.

This book explains how water, electricity/power, roads and other infrastructure services are linked together within the general basket of development and how to obtain the optimum use of resources. The emphasis, nowadays, is on multipurpose activities, optimum use of resources, environmental approach, minimum use of energy. This book tries to integrate all of these, by showing the links between the different components of infrastructure and trying to model them. A well articulated, socially attractive and desirable project may fail during the implementation or operation stage, not only from bad design, but also due to inadequate attention paid to the human aspects required for its operation. This book is intended for graduates and practising professionals who are involved in the general development planning of their country/region. It enables better understanding, collaboration and communication with other professionals in relation to their own or different disciplines.

"Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Secure Telematic Applications for National Scale Projects, Minsk, Belarus, 22-25 November 2006."--T.p. verso.