Carleen F. Maitland

Working papers

The feasibility of wireless devices for beneficiary data collection in international development NGOs: A Social Informatics perspective [pdf paper]

In this research project Dr. Maitland is joined by Dr. Tapia, together with IT professionals in the humanitarian assistance field. This paper is based on a case study in which the costs and benefits of wireless device deployment in a humanitarian relief context are examined. In the course of considering these costs and benefits the work examines the information flows of development organizations, particularly the data collection requirements specified by government agencies that provide funding. These monitoring and evaluation (M&E) requirements shape the information needs of the various development program and may provide the impetus to deploy advanced technologies. We also consider the ways in which humanitarian assistance beneficiaries are affected by the use of these technologies.

Competition in the U.S. cellular industry: The role of and prospects for small carriers [pdf paper]

In this research project Dr. Maitland is joined by Dr. Tapia and together they examined the role of small cellular carriers in the U.S. The research found that while the 3 large nationwide cellular carriers (Verizon Wireless, Cingular/ATT Wireless, Sprint/Nextal) serve the majority of the U.S. market, an additional  100 or so small, regional carriers have played an important role in developing coast to coast network coverage. The research found this group is quite heterogeneous, varying on factors such as ownership, relationships with the national carriers, and size. However, currently many of these carriers face consolidation or bankruptcy due to their past reliance on roaming charges as a significant source of revenue, for which prices are falling dramatically. To face these challenges small carriers will have to rely on service innovation as a competitive advantage in order to continue to survive among the dwindling number of national carriers.

 Self-regulation in the mobile internet industry: The case of location information privacy  [pdf paper]  

A purely institutional analysis of the treatment of location information privacy in the U.S. and UK would lead one to conclude that the U.S. would rely on self-regulatory mechanisms, while the UK would rely on co-regulatory mechanisms. However, in 2004 on both sides of the Atlantic self-regulatory mechanisms were adopted by the cellular industries. How can this anomaly be explained? In this paper I propose that to truly understand regulation of new technologies, institutional approaches need to integrate both technological features as well as market structures. In particular, by examining the case of location information privacy it is possible to observe that when a regulatory structure designed for centralized network technology and vertically integrated market structure are applied to a decentralized technology in a fragmented market unexpected behavior on the part of both regulators and market players may occur.

The following are working papers posted Fall '05

Transition Paths to Next Generation Wireless [pdf paper]

This research project ties together several years of the authors' work in the area of mobile infrastructure deployment. In this work the authors create a framework that integrates technical, policy, economic and standards issues to provide recommendations on how policy makers can shape domestic markets for future wireless technologies in a global marketplace.

Technological mediation and the offering of broadband services by ISPs        [pdf paper]

In cooperation with the Sociological Research Institute at the University of Gottingen researchers at TU Delft (Dr. Maitland and Annemijn van Gorp) surveyed ISPs in the UK, Netherlands and Germany to better understand the concept of technological mediation and its effect on ISPs' broadband service offerings.

Business models for innovative telematics applications (BITA) [pdf paper]

The BITA project is a collaboration between the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at TU Delft, TNO and the Telematica Institute, all in the Netherlands. The project examines network formation in the provision of advanced telematic services. Within the project Dr. Maitland is working with the group concerned with mobile information and entertainment services to explore the motivations for network formation and the role of power balances in shaping those relationships, business models and services.

The increasing importance of access in markets for 3rd generation mobile services [pdf paper]

This research, being carried out in collaboration with Heleen de Vlaam of TU Delft, examines how access to mobile networks will change in the market for 3rd generation services. As Europe moves from GSM (2nd generation) to UMTS (3rd generation) network technologies new types of multimedia services become possible and in order to offer these services networks will need to become more open. How will operators and content providers cope with the changing relations and will policy have a role to play? A working paper on this topic was recently presented at the ITS European Regional conference in Madrid in September.