Table 1
The digital communication system analytical matrix
| Infrastructure | Market | Role of the state | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device and access networks | What are the existing devices and access networks for digital communication? | Who owns and controls devices and access networks? | How does the state regulate devices and access networks? |
| Backbone networks | What are the existing backbone networks for digital communication? | Who owns and controls backbone networks? | How does the state regulate backbone networks? |
| Applications | What are the existing applications for digital com munication? | Who owns and controls digital communication applications? | How does the state regulate communication applications? |
| Content | What are existing types of digital communication content? | Who owns and controls digital communication content? | How does the state regulate communication content? |
[i] Source: Adapted from Flensburg & Lai, 2019: 697
Figure 1
Subdimensions of the DCS framework
Table 2
Data sources
| Data Source | Time period | Collection method | Population | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Alexa Top Sites (AA) | 2009–2020 | web panels and cookie data | national population | not available |
| Official Domain Name Administrator (ODNA) Statistics [who-is database] | 1997–2020 | registry of national domain names | national domain names | census |
| Eurostat (ES) | 1990–2020 | online survey (collected by the National Statistical Institute) | individuals aged 16+; households | 1500* |
| International Telecommunications Union (ITU) | 2000–2020 | National Telecommunication Statistics reporting | national population | census |
| Internet Archive Wayback Machine (IAWM) | 1996–2020 | archiving of websites | World Wide Web | 330 billion web pages |
| Regional Internet Registers (RIR) Statistics – RIPE NCC Allocations | 1970–2020 | Registry of Autonomous System Number (ASN) requests | ASNs | census |
| Statcounter Global Stats (SCGS) | 2009–2020 | cookie data | national population | 2 million websites |
| TeleGeography Internet Exchange Map (TIEM) | 1989–2020 | industry participants survey (cable owners, carriers) augmented with publicly available information (e.g., FCC cable landing licenses) | submarine cables worldwide | census |
| TeleGeography Submarine Cable Map (TSCM) | 1989–2020 | industry participants survey (IXP owners) augmented with publicly available information | IXPs worldwide | census |
| National Telecommunication Statistics (NTS) | 2000–2020 | industry participants reporting | broadband connections nationwide | census |
Table 3
Operationalisation of the infrastructure dimension (subdimensions: digitisation of infrastructures and digitalisation of communication)
| Indicator | Measure | Data transformation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device and access networks | Internet penetration, households (%) | – | ES |
| Smartphone ownership, households (%) | – | ES | |
| PC ownership, households (%) | – | ES | |
| Fixed line broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants) | – | ITU (NTS) | |
| Mobile broadband subscriptions (per 100 inhabitants) | – | ITU (NTS) | |
| Backbone networks | Cable landings in country (per 10 million inhabitants) | collection & accumulation of cable landings | TG |
| Kilometres of submarine cables landing in country (per 10 million inhabitants) | collection & accumulation of cable lengths | TG | |
| IXPs (per 10 million inhabitants) | collection & accumulation of IXPs | TG | |
| ASNs (per 10 million inhabitants) | collection & accumulation of ASNs | RIR (RIPE NCC) | |
| Applications | Website categories in top 100 (%) | coding of websites according to activity categories (see measures of content indicator) | AA* (IAWM) |
| National domain names (%) | – | ODNA & ILS | |
| Content | Internet activities – use in the last three months (%): news; music, videos, games; VoD; video calls; social networks; banking; shopping; interaction with public authorities (last 12 months) | – | ES |
* “The monthly rank is calculated using a combination of average daily visitors and pageviews over the past month. The site with the highest combination of visitors and pageviews is ranked #1” (Alexa, n.d.).
Table 4
Operationalisation of the market dimension (subdimensions: globalisation and disruption)
| Indicator | Measure (%) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Devices and access network market | Mobile vendor market shares | SCGS |
| Fixed-line broadband market shares | ITU (NTS) | |
| Mobile broadband market shares | NTS | |
| Backbone network market | Submarine cable market shares | TG |
| IXP market shares | TG | |
| ASN market shares | RIR (RIPE NCC) | |
| Application market | Top-50 websites market shares | AA |
| Browser market shares | SCGS | |
| Operative systems market shares | SCGS | |
| Content market | Third-party cookies in top-50 market shares | AA + WebXray |
[i] Comments: All market data were coded according to ownership (national/international, greenfield/brownfield, and public/private). The last code speaks to the state funding and ownership subdimension of the role of the state dimension, but the data transformation in terms of the coding of respectively public and private, as well as publicly and privately funded, market actors is carried out concurrently with the remaining coding of market actors in the market dimension.
Table 5
Operationalisation of the role of the state dimension (subdimension: institutionalisation and state funding and ownership)
| Indicator | Measure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State regulation of devices and access networks | State ownership of Internet service providers (%) | ITU (NTS) |
| Broadband strategy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| 5G strategy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| State funding for broadband build-out (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Telecommunications agency responsible for digital communications services (yes/no) | NLD | |
| State ownership of submarine cables, IXPs, and ASNs (%) | TG + RIPE NCC | |
| State regulation of backbone networks | Routing and peering policy – net neutrality (yes/no) | NLD |
| Cable landing licence policy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| State funding for cable laying and IXPs (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Cyber security agency (yes/no) | NLD | |
| State ownership of websites, operative systems, and browsers (%) | AA + SCGS | |
| State regulation of applications | Digitalisation agency (yes/no) | NLD |
| Domain-name policy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Digital public service funding (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Government e-inclusion strategy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| State ownership of third-party cookies (%) | WebXray | |
| State regulation of content | State funding for digital content (yes/no) | NLD |
| Privacy and data-protection agency (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Data-protection policy (yes/no) | NLD | |
| Cookie rules (yes/no) | NLD |
[i] Comments: NLD = National legislation database