Introduction : global broadband battles : why the US and Europe lag while Asia leads / Martin Fransman -- Broadband, information society, and national system in Japan / Takanori Ida -- Broadband, the information society, and national systems : the Korean case / Inho Chung -- Broadband access development in China / Manqiang Liu -- Broadband in the United States / Johannes M. Bauer -- Emergence and growth of broadband in the French infocommunications system of innovation / Jackie Krafft -- Development of the broadband market in Germany / Franz Bllingen -- Broadband in Italy : timing in intermodal rivalry / Cristiano Antonelli and Pier Paolo Patrucco -- The Swedish broadband market / Sven Lindmark and Per Bjrstedt