Felice Simonelli

Narrowband: the decline of telecommunications in Italy

Italy has been at the forefront of the telecommunication and IT industries. However, in the last decades, its competitive advantage has been rapidly fading out. When it comes to IT literacy, diffusion of Internet, TLC infrastructures, Italy is often among the worst performing countries in Europe. In particular, it is way behind with regard to the deployment of the ultra-fast broadband technologies, including the Next Generation Access Network and mobile 4G. This article explores the drivers of the decline, which could be hard to grasp especially for foreign analysts. First, the «dependent variable» is analyzed, that is the supply of broadband and ultra-fast broadband Internet connectivity. The analysis of the decline is then developed through a three-fold interdisciplinary analysis: an analysis of the demand side, focusing on the use of PC and online services by Italian households, companies, and public administration; an analysis of business strategies, assessing the behaviors of the incumbent Telecom Italia e the maverick Fastweb; and, last, an analysis of public policies, evaluating whether and to what extent they have been instrumental in favoring or limiting the diffusion of broadband access

Steel There? The European Steel Industry after the Great Recession

This paper provides an updated and extensive picture of the eu steel industry, and suggestsevidence-based policy indications to foster the international competitiveness of eu steelmakers. The never ending economic crisis started at the end of 2008 has been having a harshimpact on the steel industry. Despite some signs of recovery, most of the eu steel makers arestill bogged down in the «Great Recession». Furthermore, steel production has been subjectto structural changes over the last twelve years, mainly due to the increase in the Asian production,which posed a new and significant competitive threat to eu producers, whose productioncosts are higher than those borne by other international competitors. eu institutionsand Member States still have policy levers for manoeuvre which could be used to provide cyclicaland structural relief to this industry. Based on the findings provided in the sectoral analysis,three sets of policies are suitable to tackle some of the most crucial challenges for steelmakers: access to raw materials, energy policies, and demand-side policies.