This paper examines the topic of unbundled access to the local loop in areas which show characteristics of non-contestable natural monopolies outside the large cities. Under the heading "local loop unbundling" three variants are discussed, full unbundling, line sharing, and bitstream access. An...

In September 2016, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a directive establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) - with one key aim being the provision of sufficient incentives for infrastructure investments into high-speed communication networks. Based on a...

In this paper we study how the coexistence of access regulations for legacy (copper) and fiber networks shapes the incentives to invest in network infrastructure. To this end, we develop a theoretical model explaining investment incentives by incumbent telecom operators and heterogeneous...

Governments around the world recognise widespread broadband access as a facilitator of economic growth. As a result we observe that many countries have introduced National Broadband Policies which set ambitious targets for broadband coverage. Fixed network may not be commercially viable in more...

This paper aims at localizing network-specific market power in new markets. Three kinds of transmission qualities on service markets can be differentiated according to the products provided: narrowband services like PSTN/ISDN or GSM, semi high-speed broadband services like broadband internet...

This paper provides an overview of telecommunications regulation in the U.S. and in Europe. For each region the history of telecommunications regulations as well as the current regulatory regime is portrayed. The focus of this overview is on the question of how unbundling regulations in the...

Next Generation Access Networks will enable much higher bandwidths than copper based access networks. Although technological progress provides for higher bandwidth on copper as well, most experts agree that next generation access networks finally will be based on fibre optic cables in the entire...

The review of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) has recently been debated in the European Union (EU). Under discussion there was the extension of the current universal service definition to include broadband access, for which some theoretical and empirical support exists. In fact the...