Over the past decades, the technological upgrade of telecommunications infrastructures from copper (narrowband) networks to fiber (broadband) ones has led national and international institutions to define an ad hoc policy framework in order to combine the deployment of new infrastructures, foster market competitiveness, and protect customers' rights.
At the same time, public and private stakeholders have engaged in different forms of partnerships enabling local governments and telecommunications firms to share different risks, costs, and returns of very large investments. Thus, managing uncertainty has become key for the success of public-private partnerships in the broadband industry and methodologies to evaluate flexible investments (i.e. real options) much appreciated by both scholars and practitioners. This book aims to elaborate on some of the most debated sources on uncertainty for investments in broadband networks and define the potential of real options methodology.

Alberto Nucciarelli is assistant professor at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Trento (Italy). He published in international peer-reviewed journals on business and operation models in the digital economy as well as on policy issues in the broadband industry.

Bert Sadowski is associate professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (the Netherlands) and Visiting Professor at the University of Trento (Italy) and Northumbria University (UK). His research - published in leading economics and management journals - has provided new insights on the technological, market and demand uncertainties in emerging digital technologies.