چالش های استراتژی برای یک سرویس پهن باند در مناطق روستایی: مطالعه موردی رومانیایی

Broadband network deployment plays an important part in the strategic policies in Europe to promote growth and innovation in all sectors of the economy in addition to social and territorial cohesion. In compliance with existing community policies, Romanian strategies in this field seek to provide the necessary support for broadband connectivity in rural areas. The goal of this study is to define a rural end-user profile to plan the most appropriate broadband service strategy from both a technical and a marketing perspective. Our empirical research involves an exploratory survey conducted in rural areas in northwestern Romania (n=1040 respondents). The findings reveal low levels of customer satisfaction and users more interested in data transfer than voice or video applications. Given this rural user profile, simulations of network traffic were conducted. The simulation results suggest that WLANs are the most suitable solution for the “last mile” broadband segment.

The Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE, 2010), a key initiative of the EU's Europe 2020 strategy (OJEU, 2013), acknowledges the socio-economic benefits provided by broadband connectivity in terms of increasing competitiveness and innovation and providing job opportunities and economic growth, thereby attracting internal investment and preventing the relocation of economic activity. By adapting the National Broadband Strategy (NBS) 2009–2015 to the DAE's requirements, the Ministry of Communications and Information Society (MCIS), in collaboration with the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications of Romania (ANCOM), approved various pieces of legislation intended to provide the legal framework (HG444/2009, 2009) for providing state support for the development of broadband networks through public intervention (RoNet, 2011). The motivation for defining a service strategy for broadband connectivity in rural northwestern Romania is deeply rooted in this context. The existing broadband network infrastructures in the Romanian rural areas reveal a low level of broadband penetration with many “white areas”, where no broadband coverage is available. The main objective of this study is to guide broadband service providers in selecting the most efficient service strategy while meeting the rural user's needs. This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first attempt to define a broadband user profile in rural Romania. We believe the profile can be extended to other east European countries with similar development patterns. The originality of this study resides in the development of an integrated broadband service strategy within the framework of the NBS for rural areas in Romania that addresses both technical and marketing considerations. The research was conducted using two methods: a survey for exploratory and descriptive research and simulations to evaluate the service performance of various broadband technologies. The study included the following steps: • build a comprehensive understanding of European broadband markets and broadband strategies; • determine the level of adoption of broadband in Romania in the European context (market situation, strategies set forth by governmental policies); • develop a profile of rural broadband users (connection type, access speed, service type, consumer behavior, demographical aspects); • assess the satisfaction of broadband users with provider marketing mix in the rural areas; • propose suitable technologies for local-loop infrastructure based on the rural user profile and the NBS. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 comprises a literature review of several broadband service strategies and Romanian broadband network deployment in the European context. Section 3 describes the methodology for the exploratory research and findings. Based on these findings, Section 4 proposes several technical solutions for providing last-mile broadband connectivity in rural areas. Finally, Section 5 concludes with a summary and outlines possible implications of the study.

This study suggests a customized service strategy for Romanian broadband providers in rural areas in the context of the EU's Europe 2020 strategy and the NBS 2009–2015. This service strategy is based on a user profile determined empirically through an exploratory survey and the assessment of various local-loop solutions through simulations. The rural user profile for the Northwest Development Region of Romania reveals that Internet access is based mainly on wired broadband infrastructures. The majority of users are low-income, medium- and low-educated adults, mostly accessing educational information and other interpersonal communications frequently. Our study reveals low overall satisfaction with service providers despite a positive user perception of the service portfolios offered and the quality of the services delivered. Nevertheless, product service and maintenance are perceived to be unsatisfactory. Providers should thus improve their marketing policies. The rural customer is more likely to use data services than voice and video services. Based on the QoS and QoE evaluations of these services within a rural communication cell, we propose service-oriented solutions adapted to the user's requirements. In dispersed areas, where the users have limited broadband access, wireless technologies are considered to be a suitable solution. Several local-loop technologies were considered: WLAN, 3G+ UMTS/HSDPA and 4G WiMAX. The user profile, the service performance, and the implementation costs of the selected solutions suggest that WLANs are the most appropriate solution for the local-loop in rural areas of northwestern Romania. In a challenging business environment, our research can be considered as a milestone for broadband network providers in their efforts to create efficient service strategies for rural markets. The findings are also useful for European legislative and regulatory authorities in establishing future telecommunication policies that encourage sustainable development.