Functional or Structural Separation to Deal with Vertical Foreclosure Effects in the Electronic Communications Industry

The paper tackles the discussion about vertical separation in the electronic communications sector, in its two main forms functional and structural. The author will argue how mandatory structural separation under certain conditions could be a possible option. The evidence is provided by the analysis of recent commitment decisions adopted by the European Commission in the energy sector, and by structural separation undertakings signed in Australia and New Zealand in the past few years. The paper considers the theoretical background, such as the various forms of separation identified by the OECD in 2001 and 2011, but also the current discussion around the Second Telecoms Review (2005-2015) in the United Kingdom