On February 5, 1998, the WTO agreement on basic telecommunications services entered into force. Although the WTO agreement is a step into the right direction its impact might be rather modest. This is because apart from the many exemptions, which are likely to undermine market access and...

The paper analyses the results of the WTO agreement on basic telecommunication services. Starting with a discussion of the economic consequences of the internationalisation of the markets for telecommunication services, we argue that various requirements have to be met by an international...

Seit Anfang der neunziger Jahre wurden auf EU-Ebene zahlreiche Regulierungsmaßnahmen beschlossen, die darauf abzielen, Wettbewerb auf dem europäischen Telekommunikationsmarkt zu gewährleisten. In allen EU-Staaten besteht gleichzeitig Einigkeit über die Umsetzung eines...

This paper develops an investment/pricing model for the deployment of basic broadband networks which, along with other applications, is applicable to public-private partnership projects. In particular, a new investment model is suggested to be used for finance deployment over a longer term by...

Network operators are increasingly competing with triple play offers from cable providers for both broadcast customers and telecommunications customers. In recent years they have invested in IPTV platforms and launched their own IPTV services. This has brought a new question on the regulatory...

The competitiveness of a country and entire regions today is strongly connected to its broadband adaptation. Broadband is not only playing a critical success role in the economy, it connects consumers, businesses, governments and facilitates social interaction. Many studies have been carried out...

Central bank independence (CBI) has attracted much attention in economics and politics in recent years. The concept is based on the political economy literature onmonetary policy. In this paper, we argue that CBI is an incomplete approximation to legal monetary commitment. We first discuss the...