This article studies the impact of regulatory uncertainty on an incumbent’s incentives to undertake the socially optimal investments in NGA networks. Thus, a regulatory non-commitment setting in which the regulator sets the access price after the deployment of the NGA network is used. In...

The benefits of advanced information and communication services are increasingly dependent on the quality of the available connectivity. This paper examines the factors that influence the quality of fixed and mobile broadband access in OECD countries. Drawing on institutional economics, the...

Drei Viertel der TV-Frequenzen, die bisher dem analogen Fernsehen dienen, sind durch die Einführung der digitalen Fernseh- und Rundfunkübertragung ab 2009 neu zu vergeben. Besonders die mobile Breitbandkommunikation wird davon profitieren. Die Nachfrage nach Lizenzen ist groß, sodass nicht...

This paper presents a review of empirical methods used to assess the behavioral, economic, and political outcomes of Internet and social media usage. Instead of merely surveying the various impacts of the Internet, we examine the methods adopted to identify these impacts. We describe two main...

In some technology sectors in India, particularly in software services, public policies and private initiative have yielded rapid growth and good private and social returns. But this has not been true for the case of the Internet, more so for broadband. There is strong belief among technologists...

Der Telekommunikationsmarkt hat sich zu einem äußerst dynamischen, innovationsund technologiegetriebenen Markt entwickelt. Die Lebenszyklen der Telekommunikationstechnik sind heute vergleichsweise kurz, die Technik entwickelt sich zunehmend in Sprüngen weiter. Der Ende der 90er Jahre...

Schnellen Breitbandzugängen für möglichst viele Haushalte wird eine große Bedeutung zugemessen. Die dafür notwendige Technik erfordert allerdings relativ hohe Investitionen. Die EU und mit ihr auch Deutschland sowie die Schweiz verfolgen unterschiedliche Regulierungsregime, wobei die...

The newest dimension of the Digital Divide is access to broadband (high-speed) Internet service. Using comprehensive U.S. data covering all forms of access technology (chiefly DSL and cable modem), I look for evidence of unequal broadband availability in areas with high concentrations of poor,...

This paper models competition between two firms, which provide broadband Internet access in regional markets with different population densities. The firms, an incumbent and an entrant, differ in two ways. First, consumers bear costs when switching to the entrant. Second, the entrant faces a...

This paper analyzes the incentives to invest in Next Generation Access Networks (NGA) in a framework with horizontal product differentiation with price competition between an investing and an access seeking firm. Given uncertainty about the success of the NGA, I compare regulatory regimes with...