are described below with respect to broadband telecommunications. The complexities of operating in the broadband telecommunications ecosystem are well compensated by the benefits: this is a vital infrastructure for end-users and of enduring value. People need to be connected and are therefore willing to pay for accessing the network. Furthermore, subscribers provide operators in this industry with valuable information about their behaviour, relationships, tastes, hobbies, and SO on, information which can be of great value to the players and their industry partners. This ecosystem is one of the most valuable in terms of customer value it creates and customer data it collects. Technology, Business and Policy Technology Figure 2.5 Technology-business-policy framework Content and services layer Connectivity retail layer Infrastructure layer Subscriber/End-user Figure 2.6 Broadband telecommunications industry ecosystem In this chapter we introduce a number of technology, business and policy issues of concern to management of broadband telecommunications, and demonstrate how these issues are mapped to the ecosystem shown in Figure 2.6. Technology Broadband telecommunications infrastructure systems may be classified broadly into two groups of fixed and wireless as shown in Figure 2.7. Three fixed (wired) systems use twisted pair copper wires, optical fibres and coaxial cables as medium for transmissions. Similarly three wireless systems, mobile, fixed and satellite may be identified. One or more of these technologies may be used to provide broadband telecommunications services and indeed Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) roll-out (see Case Study 2.2) uses all with the possible exception of mobile wireless. Other systems may also be used to provide broad- band connectivity, such as balloons, power-lines and Wi-Fi. However, we focus on the systems of Figure 2.7 in discussing broadband telecommunications technologies. The infrastructure layer technologies are mainly concerned with connecting the end-user to the 