L I R N E . N E T

[22-23 May 2008] The Economics of Infrastructures section in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology, will hold its 11th Economics of Infrastructures Conference on the theme of Transitions in Utility Infrastructures. Regulators and representatives from industry will present their views on and discuss the latest developments in the governance of infrastructures. The conference will be a mixture of plenary keynote session and workshops addressing specific transition issues. Keynote speakers will address the transition in either a specific sector (energy, telecom, water) or from a specific perspective (sociological, technological, economic, political, historical).

Click here to go to the conference webpage.

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The Economics of Infrastructures section in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology, will hold its 11th Economics of Infrastructures Conference on the theme of Transitions in Utility Infrastructures, from 22-23 May 2008. Regulators and representatives from industry will present their views on and discuss the latest developments in the governance of infrastructures. The conference will be a mixture of plenary keynote session and workshops addressing specific transition issues. Keynote speakers will address the transition in either a specific sector (energy, telecom, water) or from a specific perspective (sociological, technological, economic, political, historical).

Click here to go to the conference webpage.

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Milton Mueller, well known for his work on global internet governance, has been appointed as the first XS4ALL Professor at the Delft University of Technology. During the three-year research appointment, Mueller will serve as Chair of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) section in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. Professor Mueller will also continue to teach at iSchool at Syracuse in addition to his work with the Internet Governance Project.

XS4ALL, a Dutch service provider, describes itself as having its roots “in a close-knit international internet community which played a large part in the creation of the internet. We therefore cherish and seek to protect the original values of the internet as a worldwide computer network that allows the free and uncensored exchange of data, information and ideas for everyone. XS4ALL therefore believes it has a special responsibility for the development of the internet.” Click here to read XS4ALL’s full statement on their Motives & Ambitions.

Read the full story at the Internet Governance Project blog or in Dutch at TUD: Milton Mueller eerste XS4All hoogleraar bij TU Delft.

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The fiberevolution blog highlights and comments on Professor W.H. Melody’s recent keynote speech at the Broadband Cities conference (November 14-15, Amsterdam and Almere, Netherlands).

The crux of Prof. Melody’s presentation was then to show how Private Equity had driven two major European incumbents to the ground, namely Eircom in Ireland and TDC in Denmark. I won’t go through the chronology of investment reduction and asset destruction to generate short term cash, but I think the audience was, as I was myself, flabbergasted. Not that this was not known, but the accumulation of fact was very damning indeed.

Ultimately, Prof. Melody’s message was two-fold:

• NGAN investment requires patient capital
• Private Equity is not the way to go.

Click here to read the full article.

Click here to view Melody’s conference presentation.
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