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Comparing Digital Communication Systems: An empirical framework for analysing the political economy of digital infrastructures

Open Access
|Oct 2020

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Subdimensions of the DCS framework
Subdimensions of the DCS framework

Operationalisation of the role of the state dimension (subdimension: institutionalisation and state funding and ownership)

IndicatorMeasureSource
State regulation of devices and access networksState 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 networksRouting 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 applicationsDigitalisation 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 contentState 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

Operationalisation of the market dimension (subdimensions: globalisation and disruption)

IndicatorMeasure (%)Source
Devices and access network marketMobile vendor market sharesSCGS
Fixed-line broadband market sharesITU (NTS)
Mobile broadband market sharesNTS

Backbone network marketSubmarine cable market sharesTG
IXP market sharesTG
ASN market sharesRIR (RIPE NCC)

Application marketTop-50 websites market sharesAA
Browser market sharesSCGS
Operative systems market sharesSCGS

Content marketThird-party cookies in top-50 market sharesAA + WebXray

Operationalisation of the infrastructure dimension (subdimensions: digitisation of infrastructures and digitalisation of communication)

IndicatorMeasureData transformationSource
Device and access networksInternet 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 networksCable landings in country (per 10 million inhabitants)collection & accumulation of cable landingsTG
Kilometres of submarine cables landing in country (per 10 million inhabitants)collection & accumulation of cable lengthsTG
IXPs (per 10 million inhabitants)collection & accumulation of IXPsTG
ASNs (per 10 million inhabitants)collection & accumulation of ASNsRIR (RIPE NCC)

ApplicationsWebsite categories in top 100 (%)coding of websites according to activity categories (see measures of content indicator)AA* (IAWM)
National domain names (%)ODNA & ILS

ContentInternet 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

Data sources

Data SourceTime periodCollection methodPopulationSample
Amazon Alexa Top Sites (AA)2009–2020web panels and cookie datanational populationnot available
Official Domain Name Administrator (ODNA) Statistics [who-is database]1997–2020registry of national domain namesnational domain namescensus
Eurostat (ES)1990–2020online survey (collected by the National Statistical Institute)individuals aged 16+; households1500*
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)2000–2020National Telecommunication Statistics reportingnational populationcensus
Internet Archive Wayback Machine (IAWM)1996–2020archiving of websitesWorld Wide Web330 billion web pages
Regional Internet Registers (RIR) Statistics – RIPE NCC Allocations1970–2020Registry of Autonomous System Number (ASN) requestsASNscensus
Statcounter Global Stats (SCGS)2009–2020cookie datanational population2 million websites
TeleGeography Internet Exchange Map (TIEM)1989–2020industry participants survey (cable owners, carriers) augmented with publicly available information (e.g., FCC cable landing licenses)submarine cables worldwidecensus
TeleGeography Submarine Cable Map (TSCM)1989–2020industry participants survey (IXP owners) augmented with publicly available informationIXPs worldwidecensus
National Telecommunication Statistics (NTS)2000–2020industry participants reportingbroadband connections nationwidecensus

The digital communication system analytical matrix

InfrastructureMarketRole of the state
Device and access networksWhat 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 networksWhat are the existing backbone networks for digital communication?Who owns and controls backbone networks?How does the state regulate backbone networks?
ApplicationsWhat are the existing applications for digital com munication?Who owns and controls digital communication applications?How does the state regulate communication applications?
ContentWhat are existing types of digital communication content?Who owns and controls digital communication content?How does the state regulate communication content?
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0019 | Journal eISSN: 2001-5119 | Journal ISSN: 1403-1108
Language: English
Page range: 127 - 145
Published on: Oct 24, 2020
Published by: University of Gothenburg Nordicom
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2020 Sofie Flensburg, Signe Sophus Lai, published by University of Gothenburg Nordicom
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.