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Despite the recent opening of new buildings for the British Library in London and for the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the change in mindset for librarians is almost complete, from just‐in‐case holdings to just‐in‐time delivery. Done well, the customer notices only an improvement in the service, though older customers may not find it comfortable to browse the virtual shelves, even if doing so from their desk or from home. This philosophy deserves to be applied in other areas: my own suggestion is to the postgraduate training of librarians and information scientists.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of case studies in telecommunications policy research (TPR) and to compare and contrast usage with management, management information systems (MIS) and policy analysis.

This paper conducts a comparative analysis that examines the methodologies used to design and select case studies and the various theories used in their analysis.

The most sophisticated use of case studies is in management information systems (MIS), distinguishing critical realism, interpretivism and positivism to build theories. In policy analysis and TPR, theories are used to explain case studies, which are chosen as interesting sets of phenomena, rather than as means to extend, falsify or verify theories.

Researchers in telecommunications policy should consider the approaches taken in MIS to determine whether they might improve their rigor. There is also scope for meta-analyses of the existing pool of case studies.

This appears to be the first article examining the use of case studies in TPR.

This paper aims to review the licensing in India, including the development of universal licences and of the now infamous 2G spectrum scam.

This paper is a case study drawing on a side range of official documents, including inquiry reports, policies, licences and court judgements.

Liberalisation of the sector introduced opportunities for lobbying and corruption that lead to very unusual market structures, with many operators and too little spectrum.

Interviews with the principals were impossible.

It is now necessary for the government to adopt good governance processes, especially in respect of 4G and th inevitable consolidation of operators in a fair and equitable manner.

The governance systems are incapable of controlling the corruption in the telecommunications sector and require substantial redesign.

The paper is the first to relate corporate political activity and corruption to outcomes in the telecommunications sector in India.

This paper aims to examine issues of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in one of the most corrupt countries in Africa.

This is a single-country case study, drawing on material dating from the mid-1970s, including court cases.

The corruption is pervasive and systemic, showing severe problems with governance in general, in the sector and against corruption. Nonetheless, two operators, one South African and one Nigerian, have delivered extensive access to mobile networks.

The system of governance requires significant structural reforms, if the burden of corruption is to be reduced.

This paper sheds new and explicit light on the complex history of telecommunications in Nigeria. It adds to the small base of material on corruption in the telecommunications sector. It identifies issues that could usefully be taken up by institutions in Nigeria.

This paper aims to examine the aspiration to world-class broadband in a number of countries.

This study includes a review of the various approaches taken by countries, consultants and intergovernmental organisations.

The term “world class” is used relatively vaguely, without any significant link to long-term improvements in national performance, rather to an aspiration to being close to the leaders.

The use of benchmarking in lobbying needs further study, as does the quality of lobbying.

Governments need to make explicit their policy aims in addition to any world-class headline and need to aim for design improvement in their governance systems.

This is the first review of benchmarking of broadband at the national level.

This paper aims to analyse the implication of the exit of the UK from the European Union (a.k.a. Brexit).

This paper analyses the options for the UK and the freedom this creates for the government to design its system of governance for the telecommunications and related economic sectors.

Brexit, other than the Norway Option or membership of the European Economic Area, allows the UK Government considerable freedom to reshape its system of governance for telecommunications. The strongest influence in such a redesign would be vested commercial interests, with the risk of subsequent underperformance and insufficient rigour.

Events have moved relatively quickly, yet the outcome of the negotiations remains difficult to predict, beyond broad scenarios.

There will be a need for greater involvement of consumers and business users in the process of recasting the regulatory governance system if it is not to be for the benefit of vested interests.

This is the first substantive analysis of Brexit for the telecommunications sector.

The paper aims to examine the reporting of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the telecommunications sector and to consider how the obligations and regulations imposed on operators affect what is considered as CSR compared to other sectors.

The paper provides a review of the academic literature on CSR, relating this to developments in the regulatory state and the adoption by governments and intergovernmental bodies of CSR instruments. Also, the paper conducts an analysis of coltan, greenhouse gas emissions and privacy as short case studies where CSR issues and regulations meet.

Many activities that in other sectors would be considered CSR are required by licence or legislation, together with much more detailed scrutiny and reporting.

The paper provides a review of existing literature on CSR in telecommunications, related to theories about CSR and the regulatory state.

The purpose of this paper is to review the prosecution by US authorities of Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment (ZTE) Corporation for its violation of sanctions against the sale of systems to Iran and North Korea; the violation of the plea agreement; and, following presidential intervention, the imposition of a further fine and restructuring of its management.

An analysis of the materials used in court proceedings and speeches by officials in the case against ZTE

The US president intervened in a quasi-judicial matter in which a foreign firm had violated US sanctions that he had supported to lessen the penalties it faced. The firm had also violated its plea agreement. This personal intervention weakened enforcement of US sanctions on human rights and weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, it revealed the excessive reliance of Chinese manufacturers on US-domiciled suppliers of semiconductors and software.

Neither was access to Chinese documents possible nor would it have been practicable to interview managers at ZTE.

Enforcement of US sanctions on the sale of telecommunications equipment have now been moved from strict enforcement on matters of human rights and WMD into political, trade and even personal negotiations with the US president.

A first analysis of a telecommunications sanctions case.

This paper aims to analyse the promises of the various political party in the 2019 general election in the United Kingdom (UK) concerning the provision of broadband, especially in remote and rural areas.

This is an analysis of the party manifestos, some interviews and speeches involving party leaders. It identified the various commitments, any costs for those and the reasoning given.

The UK lags badly on fibre to the premises, both homes and offices. Without analysing the reasons, the two dominant parties proposed to borrow large amounts of money to fund fibre deployment, the Conservative Party without explaining how it would be disbursed. The Labour Party produced a confused proposal to nationalise BT Openreach and probably other operators, without explaining how this transition would work. Nor did they explain why the service was to be free to users.

The UK political parties need to improve their understanding of broadband and digital policies, including means to simplify the governance of markets.

This is the first analysis of the broadband commitments of a UK general election and one of the very few analyses of political offers in an election.

The purpose of this paper is to review the extent and the manner in which internet governance systems could and do engage with the problems of potential and actual corruption.

A review of internet multistakeholder systems and their compatibility with global best practice in countering corruption.

The multistakeholder systems contain systemic weaknesses, exposing them to risks of corruption and capture that would be very difficult to identify and eradicate.

A number of opportunities are identified to improve resilience of internet multistakeholder systems against the dangers of capture and corruption.

There is no research published on this topic.