Telecommunications Policy

Telecommunications infrastructure goes through technology-induced phases, and the regulatory regime follows. Telecom 1.0, based on copper wires, was monopolistic in market structure and led to a Regulation 1.0 with government ownership or control. ...

Antitrust and consumer protection laws share a common purpose to facilitate the exercise of effective consumer choice. This article uses this concept of consumer sovereignty to frame analysis of the shifting boundaries between the industry-specific and ...

The essential facility doctrine lies at the core of telecoms regulation since its very first steps in the United States and in the European Union. Later, the doctrine spread around the world and currently stands as a key pillar of the liberalization ...

The EU Commission published a second, substantially revised, version of the draft recommendation for the regulation of next generation access networks for public consultation in June 2009. The Recommendation includes a large set of regulatory tools ...

Access to in-building wiring for buildings with multi-dwellings is crucial for local fixed network competition. Otherwise the first operator servicing consumers in a building will obtain a de facto monopoly since it is very doubtful that there will be ...

This paper explores the effects of network unbundling in telecommunications. It includes discussions of the basic economics of unbundling; the competitive effects of unbundling on voice services in the US and broadband in the US and the European Union; ...

A growing number of countries are reexamining telecommunications policies in search of approaches that better support investment and innovation in advanced communication networks and services. In addition to regulatory instruments, a broad range of ...

Next generation access (NGA) networks are an opportunity and a challenge for regulators. Unlike the costs of a copper access networks, those of an NGA are not yet sunk; hence fixed monopoly suppliers need an incentive to invest. This need is likely to ...

The concept of ''universal service obligation'' (USO) has been around for decades; however, its definition continues to change. The notion that the last mile of fixed-line access should be subsidized has spread around the world, despite well reasoned ...

This paper considers universal service in an environment of converged service and broadband. To this end, it is crucial to distinguish carefully between the availability of the service and the use of the service. Universal service program objectives ...

Universal service is governed by a regulatory framework that guarantees nationwide access to basic telephone service over the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The ongoing network migration to IP networks, however, poses the question of how the ...

Panzar (2000) argues that the composition of universal service bundles depend on both economic and political considerations. The factors policymakers consider in determining the universal service bundle include: (a) the strength of network effects, (b) ...