The debate on network neutrality over the past decade has evolved (in the academic sphere but not so much in public) to include sophisticated considerations of the welfare enhancing or reducing effects of mandating network neutrality. For example, in a model by Economides and Hermalin (2012) it...

File sharing, typically involving video or audio material in which copyright may persist and using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks like BitTorrent, has been reported to make up the bulk of Internet traffic (Pouwelse et al., 2008; Kryczka et al., 2011). The free-riding problem appears in this digital...

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to...

In this paper we examine the nexus of water an energy scarcity in South Africa. The fresh water resources of the country are close to exhaustion (Business Day, 2009; Turton, 2008)⁠, yet safe drinking water is not yet universally available to all in the country – in spite of a government policy...

In this paper we examine the nexus of water an energy scarcity in South Africa. The fresh water resources of the country are close to exhaustion (Business Day 2009, Turton 2008), yet safe drinking water is not yet universally available to all in the country – in spite of a government policy to...

Vertical separation of upstream network operations from downstream retail activities, as the most extreme form of access regulation, has long been considered a legitimate regulatory remedy against use of market power in upstream infrastructure markets to engage in price- and non-price...

In recent years, the preference for purely private funding and ownership of telecommunications networks has given way to a 'new wisdom' that some form of public funding is now necessary if faster and more capacious Next Generation Networks (NGNs) are to be constructed in a timely fashion. The...

Bronwyn Howell and Dave Heatley's presentation at the recent Internet New Zealand Ultrafast Broadband Workshop held in Wellington on 19 May 2010.

Current Comment is an occasional series providing economic commentary on topical issues. This second issue looks at local loop unbundling and whether this has increased New Zealand's broadband uptake.

Presentation by Bronwyn Howell to OPTA Den Haag on 13 September 2011.