DOCSLIB.ORG

Measurement of Service Quality in Bangladesh Mobile Phone Sector: Issues, Standards and Practices

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Measurement of Service Quality in Bangladesh Mobile Phone Sector: Issues, Standards and Practices Measurement of Service Quality in Bangladesh mobile phone sector: Issues, Standards and Practices by Syeda Rownak Afza A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mijanur Rahman Department of Marketing Faculty of Business Studies University of Dhaka 2015 i DEDICATION To my loving and caring husband Rezoan, who constantly inspired and helped me to complete this thesis. To my Mother, who always wanted to pursue her unfulfilled dreams through me. ii ABSTRACT Service quality is a very emerging issue in the area of marketing research at present. It is applicable to every sector and organizations profitability highly depend on this. In our country, Mobile telecommunication is playing a vital role to our economy. But, there were hardly any research addressing the issue of service quality in the mobile telecommunication sector particularly in our country. Although, there have been some research done in other countries, linking service quality and customers' satisfaction and continuance intention has neglected in most of the previous research. This study has tried to present an empirical investigation regarding service quality issues and practices in the Bangladesh mobile telecom area. This study also tried to make an association with service quality and customers' perceived value, satisfaction and their continuance intention. Also, an empirical study has been made to identify the net promotion score of the different mobile operators in Bangladesh, which the researcher believes as an unique contribution of this research. To validate the study, this study used a quantitative‐positivist approach as a research paradigm, cross‐sectional design as a survey method for collective quantitative data, Key informant interview and Focus group for collecting qualitative data, convenience sampling as a sampling technique and mainly multivariate analysis ( Exploratory Factor Analysis and Multiple regression analysis) as a data analysis technique. The findings of this study represents some particular service quality parameters that are used as benchmark to measure the service quality of the mobile operators in Bangladesh. A number of factors in service came up, which have a significant association with customers' perceived value, satisfaction and continuance intention. Most importantly, this study found that, even customers perceived service quality is low, they still want to continue the service of their mobile operators due to different switching barriers. Also, the Net Promotion Score of the different Mobile operators are significantly low, even in some cases it shows negative score, which may have a strong effect on the organizations profitability and growth. Theoretically, the study extends service quality research by reframing the concept as a reflective, hierarchical model and framing its impact on satisfaction, continuance intentions in the developing country context like Bangladesh. Practically, for the practitioners and policy makers of various mobile telecom operators in Bangladesh, this study provides a conceptual service quality model for conducting integrated analysis and design of service delivery systems. Overall, in the mobile telecommunication service quality research in Bangladesh, this study makes a significant contribution by identifying the benchmarks and its association with customers' perceived value, satisfaction and continuance intention. iii Key words: Service quality, Perceived value, Customer satisfaction, Continuance Intention, Net Promotion Score, Mobile telecommunication service, Bangladesh. Acronyms: QOS: Quality of Service BTRC: Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission KPI: key performance indicator CS KPI: Call Set‐up Success Rate PS KPI: Performance standards SMS: Short message service MMS:Multimedia message service SDCCH: Standalone Dedicated Control Channel GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication GPRS: General Packet Radio System CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access TCH: Traffic Channel. TBF: Telephone Band Filtering PESQ: Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality PV= Perceived Value CS= Customers Satisfaction CI= Continuance Intention SERVQUAL= Service quality SERVPERF= Servicer Performance NPS= Net Promoter Score BI= Behavioral Intention iv EFA= Exploratory Factor Analysis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I praise and acknowledge Allah, the most beneficent and the most merciful, for giving me the strength to complete this thesis. I owe my debt and would like to express deep feelings of gratitude to my teacher and thesis supervisor, Prof. Dr. Mijanur Rahman, Dept. of Marketing, Faculty of Business studies, University of Dhaka. I am also grateful to him for believing in my work, giving his constant support and cooperation. His motivation always helped to boost up my confidence and believe to overcome all the challenges I have faced during my research. I feel myself lucky to have such a mentor to guide and help me throughout this journey. I am thankful to Mr. Mohammad Siddiquee, Lecturer, University of New Brunswick, Saint Jhon, Canada for his immense support. Without his help and assistance it would never be possible for me to access the updated journals and articles related with my research work. Also, I want to thank my friend Mr. Shantu Kumar Ghosh, Assistant Professor, School of Business, BRAC University for his support and cooperation whenever I needed. I am also grateful to Ms. Farhana Sadia, Lecturer, ISRT, University of Dhaka for giving her valuable time and assistance. Whenever I get confused or stuck during my analysis, she helped me with her advice. Further, my sincere thanks to Ms. Roohi Andalib Huda, Lecturer, BRAC University for her sincere efforts in Proof reading this thesis at various stages including the final draft. Finally, my heartiest thanks to my family members, specially my husband Rezoan, my son Farzad, my daughter Faizah and my home manager Rokyea apa for keeping their patience and encouragement, my father‐in‐law, who was always eager to know about the progress of my research work, my mother‐in‐law, who always prayed so that I can finish it up. Without their prayers and support it was almost impossible for me to complete this thesis. v Measurement of Service Quality in Bangladesh mobile phone sector: Issues, Standards and Practices by Syeda Rownak Afza A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mijanur Rahman Department of Marketing Faculty of Business Studies University of Dhaka 2015 1 ABSTRACT 1. Background of the study : The mobile telecommunication sector is a fast growing service sector in the world economy. In Bangladesh too, especially in urban areas it is large and touches the life of its public in many aspects of their daily lives. The blessings of this technology helps to develop every other service area of our country like education, healthcare, banking, restaurants , retailing, transportation, water supply and many other related areas that facilitate the evolution of a modern society. Telecommunication companies are advancing their technology tremendously. As a result, they face intense competition, including competition from sources that were not previously existing. The quality of these mobile telecommunication services needs to be constantly monitored and upgraded to maximize their positive impacts on individuals and society. Thus service quality measurement is very important as well as a challenge for the mobile telecommunication marketer or operator to stay ahead in terms of competition. It is the service excellence that differentiates them and sets them apart from the rivals. By pursuing service excellence they also continue to build and reinforce an intangible asset: Brand equity. Over time, and with the increased saturation of the market, companies have come to realize their performance can improve by focusing more on retaining customers than constantly acting in a conquest mode. Within service marketing literature, service quality has received a great deal of attention from both academics and practitioners. Organizations operating in service industries should consider service quality a key strategic issue for business success. Since the last two decades, research in marketing has shown that customer behavioral intention can be explored from three attitudinal aspects: customer satisfaction, perceived value and switching barriers. The first stream is often called the ‘‘service quality ‐satisfaction‐ behavioral intentions’’ paradigm (Dabholkar et al. 2000). Comprehensively, the first two streams, customer satisfaction and perceived value, can help induce customers’ positive behavioral intentions and minimize customers’ attraction to other competitors. However, companies can also encourage desirable consumer behavioral intentions by raising switching barriers so that customers are unlikely to change to an alternative provider. Furthermore, when switching barriers are high, customers find it difficult or costly to defect even if they are not very satisfied or when short‐term fluctuations in service quality occur (Ranaweera and Prabhu 2003; Wathne et al. 2001). Based on these motives, The researcher in this study has tried to identify the core customer service quality parameters that are used empirically in the context of Bangladesh & study their impact on customers' perceived value, satisfaction and their continuance intention. The reasons for choosing the mobile telecommunication market
Load more

Recommended publications
  • ILCL-ILSL MONTHLY Economy and Market Review
    April 2014 ILCL-ILSL MONTHLY Economy and Market Review YOUR MONEY MANAGER www.il-capital.com www.ilslbd.com IL Capital Limited and International Leasing Securities Limited are subsidiaries of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited Addressing Your Financial Concerns In today’s competitive world, each of you is looking for growth opportunities. While some of you are considering expansion of your existing business, others are looking for expansion in a new field. Some may feel that working capital management is the priority while others need to focus on financial efficiency. Many have suffered from high interest burden in the past while others are looking for scope to minimize tax burden to safeguard a substantial profit. Few need hands-on assistance to explore business opportunities with major industry players while others require a strategic plan to make an acquisition successful. Yes, we are talking about financial restructuring and investment alternatives. And a lot of questions come and wait in mind. Which type of financing is the best solution? Is it going to fit the long term strategy of the organization? Is it sustain- able? Are you ready for this? Faced with such dilemmas, what you need is an expert who can offer a wide array of financial services and benefits with comparative analyses of feasible alternatives. Yes. IL Capital can do this for you. We oer – • Issue Management & Underwriting • Loan Syndication & Private Equity • Merger & Acquisition • Advisory Services for any other Financial Restructuring requirement that our clients may have Realizing Your Investment Dream We are offering investment management solutions to both individuals and corporate entities.
    [Show full text]
  • Claimant's Memorial on Merits and Damages
    Public Version INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ICSID Case No. ARB/16/16 SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT DISPUTES BETWEEN GLOBAL TELECOM HOLDING S.A.E. Claimant and GOVERNMENT OF CANADA Respondent CLAIMANT’S MEMORIAL ON THE MERITS AND DAMAGES 29 September 2017 GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP Telephone House 2-4 Temple Avenue London EC4Y 0HB United Kingdom GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 United States of America Public Version TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 II. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 3 III. Canada’s Wireless Telecommunications Market And Framework For The 2008 AWS Auction................................................................................................................................. 17 A. Overview Of Canada’s Wireless Telecommunications Market Leading Up To The 2008 AWS Auction.............................................................................................. 17 1. Introduction to Wireless Telecommunications .................................................. 17 2. Canada’s Wireless Telecommunications Market At The Time Of The 2008 AWS Auction ............................................................................................ 20 B. The 2008 AWS Auction Framework And Its Key Conditions ................................... 23 1. The Terms Of The AWS Auction Consultation
    [Show full text]
  • Vimpelcom Ltd
    UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 20-F Registration Statement Pursuant to Section 12(b) or (g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 OR ⌧ Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 OR Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 OR Shell Company Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Commission File Number: 1-34694 VIMPELCOM LTD. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Bermuda (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) Claude Debussylaan 88, 1082 MD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Address of principal executive offices) Jeffrey D. McGhie Group General Counsel & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Claude Debussylaan 88, 1082 MD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Tel: +31 20 797 7200 Fax: +31 20 797 7201 (Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person) Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of Each Class Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, each representing one common share New York Stock Exchange Common shares, US$ 0.001 nominal value New York Stock Exchange* * Listed, not for trading or quotation purposes, but only in connection with the registration of ADSs pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: 1,628,199,135 common shares, US$ 0.001 nominal value.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great Telecom Meltdown for a Listing of Recent Titles in the Artech House Telecommunications Library, Turn to the Back of This Book
    The Great Telecom Meltdown For a listing of recent titles in the Artech House Telecommunications Library, turn to the back of this book. The Great Telecom Meltdown Fred R. Goldstein a r techhouse. com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the U.S. Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Goldstein, Fred R. The great telecom meltdown.—(Artech House telecommunications Library) 1. Telecommunication—History 2. Telecommunciation—Technological innovations— History 3. Telecommunication—Finance—History I. Title 384’.09 ISBN 1-58053-939-4 Cover design by Leslie Genser © 2005 ARTECH HOUSE, INC. 685 Canton Street Norwood, MA 02062 All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Artech House cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. International Standard Book Number: 1-58053-939-4 10987654321 Contents ix Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) Gave Cable Providers an Advantage on “Triple Play” 122 RBOCs Took the Threat Seriously 123 Hybrid Fiber-Coax Is Developed 123 Cable Modems
    [Show full text]
  • Global Telecom Holding
    Global Telecom Holding View: Negative Tuesday, 3 July 2018 Valuation: EGP3.05 (36%) Egypt / Telecom Services / News Comment Stock chart and data VEON’s Acquisition of GTHE’s Pakistan & Volume (mn), Right GTHE EGX 30 Index Bangladesh Assets Is Negative for Minorities 50% 160.0 40% 140.0 Global Telecom Holding’s (GTHE) parent company VEON (NASDAQ: 30% 120.0 20% VEON) announced early this morning two major transactions, one 10% 100.0 involving the sale of its 50% stake in Wind Tre to CK Hutchison 0% 80.0 Holdings and another involving an offer to acquire GTHE’s assets in -10% 60.0 -20% 40.0 Pakistan (Jazz and its associated operations) and Bangladesh -30% -40% 20.0 (Banglalink). What really concerns us here is the second transaction -50% 0.0 which is for a gross consideration of USD2.55bn (in our opinion the two subsidiaries’ enterprise value, including debt), some 30% below our estimated enterprise value (EV) of USD3.67bn. In such a case, we Last Price (EGP) 4.80 think GTHE’s minority shareholders will once again end up with the 52 Week Range (EGP) 4.07 - 7.78 6M-ADVT (EGPmn) 68.91 short end of the stick! Market Cap (EGPmn) 22,661 No. of Shares O/S (mn) / Free float 4,721.1 / 43.2% • What’s the proposed deal? VEON, which owns 57.7% of GTHE, is back again, expressing its interest in GTHE—albeit indirectly this Financial summary time around. After seeing its mandatory tender offer of 100% of FY ended Dec. 2015 2016 2017 USDmn GTHE fail twice in the past five years (in 2013 and 2018), VEON (previously known as VimpelCom) has come up with another Revenues 2,894.4 2,955.5 3,014.7 YoY growth (13.3%) 2.1% 2.0% strategic move to fully own GTHE’s key assets.
    [Show full text]
  • Weather Investments S
    Orascom Telecom Holding renamed to Global Telecom Holding Cairo/London, September 22, 2013: The company is pleased to announce that it has changed its name to “Global Telecom Holding S.A.E.”. The Egyptian Stock Exchange (“EGX”) and the London Stock Exchange (“LSE”) will amend the new name of the company, “Global Telecom Holding S.A.E.”, and amend the ticker symbol on the trading screens to “GTHE.CA” on the EGX and “GLTD:LI” on the LSE with effect from September 23, 2013. This gives effect to the decision of the shareholders at the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting held on November 12, 2012. All references to the previous company name shall be substituted by the new name. The company was obliged to change its name as part of the WIND Telecom S.p.A. and VimpelCom Ltd. merger, under which the company and its subsidiaries were required to cease the use of the “Orascom” name, designs and logos. Ahmed Abou Doma, Group CEO of Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. commented: “Our new name and corporate identity are intended to provide a modern look and feel, and emphasize our specific strengths as an international telecom group. The Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. new corporate identity allows our group to leverage on the goodwill, the strong growth and outstanding performance of our parent company VimpelCom Ltd. and will provide our organization with a solid platform to build upon in our upcoming endeavors and growth potential in the telecom sector.” -END- About Global Telecom Holding: Global Telecom (“GTH”) is a leading international telecommunications company operating GSM networks in high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, having a total population under license of approximately 459 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 53% as of June 30, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted As the Norm Within the Next Decade
    FOR RELEASE June 16, 2021 Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted as the Norm Within the Next Decade A majority worries that the evolution of artificial intelligence by 2030 will continue to be primarily focused on optimizing profits and social control. They also cite the difficulty of achieving consensus about ethics. Many who expect progress say it is not likely within the next decade. Still, a portion celebrate coming AI breakthroughs that will improve life BY Lee Rainie, Janna Anderson and Emily A. Vogels FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES: Lee Rainie, Director, Internet and Technology Research Janna Anderson, Director, Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center Haley Nolan, Communications Associate 202.419.4372 www.pewresearch.org RECOMMENDED CITATION Pew Research Center, June 16, 2021. “Experts Doubt Ethical AI Design Will Be Broadly Adopted as the Norm in the Next Decade” 1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. The Center studies U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends. All of the center’s reports are available at www.pewresearch.org. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. For this project, Pew Research Center worked with Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center, which helped conceive the research and collect and analyze the data.
    [Show full text]
  • Samena Trends Exclusively for Samena Telecommunications Council's Members Building Digital Economies
    Volume 05 _ Issue 10 _ October 2014 SAMENA TRENDS EXCLUSIVELY FOR SAMENA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL'S MEMBERS BUILDING DIGITAL ECONOMIES A SAMENA Telecommunications Council Newsletter Articles For a Better Connected World Page 53 The Great Telecom Escape Page 58 Is mobile network infrastructure sharing about to take off in SAMENA? Page 60 Digital Services: Partnering is Key to Success Page 62 Kyle Whitehill Chief Executive Officer Vodafone Qatar Shaping the Competition and Building Competitive Edge www.samenacouncil.org e SAMENA CONTENTS VOLUME _ 05 _ISSUE _ 10_OCT_2014 TRENDS The SAMENA TRENDS newsletter is REGIONAL & MEMBERS wholly owned and operated by The UPDATES SAMENA Telecommunications Council 10. Regional & Members News FZ, LLC (SAMENA). Information in the newsletter is not intended as professional services advice, and SAMENA Council disclaims any liability for use of specific REGULATORY & POLICY information or results thereof. Articles UPDATES and information contained in this 19. Regulatory News publication are the copyright of SAMENA Telecommunications Council, (unless A Snapshot of Regulatory Activities otherwise noted, described or stated) in SAMENA Region and cannot be reproduced, copied or printed in any form without the express written permission of the publisher. WHOLESALE UPDATES The SAMENA Council does not necessar- 48. Wholesale News ily endorse, support, sanction, encour- age, verify or agree with the content, comments, opinions or statements made in The SAMENA TRENDS by any entity TECHNOLOGY UPDATES or entities. Information, products and 55. Technology News services offered, sold or placed in the newsletter by other than The SAMENA 53. For a Better Connected World Council belong to the respective entity EDITORIAL or entities and are not representative of The SAMENA Council.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Telecom Holding Blom Egypt Securities Bank
    BLOMINVEST بلوم مصر لتداول اﻷوراق المالية GLOBAL TELECOM HOLDING BLOM EGYPT SECURITIES BANK Equity Research – Initiation of Coverage Share Price (EGP): 4.69 Sector: Telecom Target Price (EGP): 5.18 Country: Egypt Upside: 10.5% Date: December 17, 2013 Recommendation: ACCUMULATE Risk: High Initiating with an ACCUMULATE Rating and a target price of Share Data EGP 5.18 on the channels of analysis below Bloomberg Symbol GTHE EY Algeria dominates GTH’s revenue mix on high average revenue per user Reuters Symbol GTHE.CA Global Telecom is as a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, Market Cap (EGPm) 24,602 covering a population of 459 million. Revenues of GTH primarily consist of cellular operatio ns’ revenues, constituting 98.2% of the company’s Number of Shares (m) 5,246 top-line with a negligible share coming from other sources. Almost 50% Free Float 48.1% of revenues are generated from Algeria although the number of subscribers in Pakistan and Bangladesh is larger, mainly due to higher Price to 2013 Earnings - average revenue per user following more favorable economic conditions. Price to 2013 Book Value 14.08 Subscribers base to grow at a higher pace than revenue We estimate 2013 revenues to remain flat at USD 3,632 million with Algeria and Pakistan accounting for 81.7% of the company’s top-line. Growth in revenues is expected to be lower than the surge in subscribers Share Performance as the average revenue per user is estimated to decline following heightened competition in the market.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2019 VEON Ltd
    Annual Report 2019 VEON Ltd. Claude Debussylaan 88, 1082 MD Amsterdam The Financial Statements are approved by the Audit Committee on behalf of the Board on March 13, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Director's Report............................................................................................................................................................... 3 Information on the Company........................................................................................................................................... 4 Directors and Senior Management and Employees........................................................................................................ 33 Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions...................................................................................................... 41 How We Manage Risks................................................................................................................................................... 43 Risk factors ..................................................................................................................................................................... 46 Operating and Financial Review and Prospects ............................................................................................................. 71 Additional Information ..................................................................................................................................................... 93 Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures
    [Show full text]
  • Videoconferencing - Wikipedia,Visited the Free on Encyclopedia 6/30/2015 Page 1 of 15
    Videoconferencing - Wikipedia,visited the free on encyclopedia 6/30/2015 Page 1 of 15 Videoconferencing From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Videoconferencing (VC) is the conduct of a videoconference (also known as a video conference or videoteleconference) by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to communicate by simultaneous two-way video and audio transmissions. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a type of groupware. Videoconferencing differs from videophone calls in that it's designed to serve a conference or multiple locations rather than individuals.[1] It is an intermediate form of videotelephony, first used commercially in Germany during the late-1930s and later in A Tandberg T3 high resolution the United States during the early 1970s as part of AT&T's development of Picturephone telepresence room in use technology. (2008). With the introduction of relatively low cost, high capacity broadband telecommunication services in the late 1990s, coupled with powerful computing processors and video compression techniques, videoconferencing has made significant inroads in business, education, medicine and media. Like all long distance communications technologies (such as phone and Internet), by reducing the need to travel, which is often carried out by aeroplane, to bring people together the technology also contributes to reductions in carbon emissions, thereby helping to reduce global warming.[2][3][4] Indonesian and U.S. students Contents participating in an educational videoconference
    [Show full text]
  • From the Universtiat Politècnica De Catalunya (UPC) and Currently Is Working on His Phd on Community Networks at the Same University
    Roger Baig Viñas Roger Baig Viñas received his degree in Industrial Engineering (2002) from the Universtiat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and currently is working on his PhD on community networks at the same university. He joined the guifi.net community as a volunteer in 2006. In 2011 he was hired at the Foundation for the Neutral, Free and Open Network, the non-profit organization that represents the guifi.net project. He is currently coordinating its participation in international projects. He has actively contributed to many aspects in guifi.net, such as organizing community events, promoting projects, giving talks, etc. and has gained a broad knowledge about community networks. His research interests are on business models, sustainability, and governance of community networks. Currently he is the secretary of ISOC-CAT association. Thomas C. Barrett Thomas C. Barrett is the Permanent Representative of the European Investment Bank (EIB) to the United States. The European Investment Bank Group supports investment by providing US$90B per annum debt and equity financing, as well as policy support and advisory services in Europe and in 150 countries around the world in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Before taking up his current assignment, Mr. Barrett was director of EIB’s financial products and advisory teams. He was chairman of the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) and was also responsible for the establishment of the EIB’s Centres of Expertise on Trans-European Networks for ICT, Transport, and Energy. Mr. Barrett is director of the Marguerite Fund for Energy, Climate and Infrastructure and a member of the Atlantic Council Task Force in Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]