University News

S. Korea’s Broadband Regulation a Good Model, UNH Researcher says

The United States can learn about broadband regulation by looking at efforts made by the Korean government, a University of New Haven researcher will tell the Federal Communications Commission today.

May 29, 2014


Eun-A Park, UNH assistant professor of communication, will speak at an invitation-only workshop on the Future of Broadband Regulation at FCC headquarters organized by the Institute for Information Policy of Pennsylvania State University and the FCC.

The purpose of the workshop is to allow academic and government experts to discuss "work-in-progress" with their fellow participants and to permit senior FCC management and other representatives to review some of the policy challenges that the transition to a ubiquitous IP-based broadband network poses.

"I believe there is something to learn from the Korean case, such as the government's proactive approach to these issues and the way it facilitated fierce competition among the industries," she said. Park said.

The conference is necessary because broadcasting, telecommunications and the information technology sectors, once distinct industries, have merged to become the "broadband ecosystem," Park said. "Governments everywhere are confronting the need to effectively regulate this broadband ecosystem, which does not easily fit into the traditional models of regulation."

Park says South Korea is a leading example of how to regulate the industries in the new environment. "Due to the fast deployment of information infrastructures and technologies in South Korea since the 1980s, the country has confronted the opportunities and challenges of technological convergence sooner than most nations," she said. "The government’s policy responses are an example of the transformation of government decision-making structures under the challenges of the emergence of the broadband ecosystem."

Park said the Korean government in 2008 established the Korean Communications Commission and in 2013 instituted reforms that established the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. "I believe there is something to learn from the Korean case, such as the government's proactive approach to these issues and the way it facilitated fierce competition among the industries," she said.


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The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920 the university enrolls approximately 1,800 graduate students and more than 4,600 undergraduates.