Abstract
Improvements in the availability and quality of Internet access are considered an important precondition for e-commerce. This paper examines public policies in the United States (US) and in the European Union (EU) towards communications infrastructures and their effect on Internet access and e-commerce. We update and expand earlier research, in which we found effects of public policies on Internet access, to study their implications for e-commerce. Whereas the EU as a region has been successful in closing the historical gap to the US in fixed and mobile communications, it continues to trail the US in advanced communications infrastructures. Large differences in the availability of access infrastructure (networks, terminals, and web servers) as well as e-commerce also exist between individual EU member states. The differing policies towards the development of fixed (wired or wireless) broadband and mobile telecommunications (2.5 and 3G) affect the means to buy online and shape e-commerce directly and indirectly. In the wake of the European 3G spectrum auctions and the collapse of major players in the broadband networking market, past policies have been revisited. In this chapter we examine important new initiatives and discuss the prospects for e-commerce.
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Bauer, J.M., Berne, M. (2004). E-commerce and Internet access in the European Union and the United States. In: Preissl, B., Bouwman, H., Steinfield, C. (eds) E-Life after the Dot Com Bust. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11659-3_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-11659-3_12
Publisher Name: Physica, Heidelberg
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