This paper identifies substantial flaws in how U.S. government agencies and courts assess the impact of proposed mergers by firms using broadband networks to reach consumers. Based on current market definitions, consumer impact assessments and economic doctrine, antitrust enforcement agencies...

The Internet unquestionably represents one of the most important technological developments in recent history. It has revolutionized the way people communicate with one another and obtain information and created an unimaginable variety of commercial and leisure activities. Interestingly, many...

Both telecommunications providers and policy makers would like to see consumers upgrading their fixed, wireless-fixed and wireless IAS. While telecommunications providers value such upgrades to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU), policy makers hope for socio-economic benefits by...

This paper discusses the impacts of providing energy efficiency information to online shoppers. It lays out mechanisms by which this may improve appliance purchase and use decisions, raise awareness, improve innovation and align market forces with sustainability objectives. It finds that...

In this Perspective, I review arguments that broadband providers may be anticompetitively imposing usage-based pricing to protect their profits from “core” services (e.g., voice, video, texting) against the proliferation of “over the top” services and, as such, new price regulation of...

Applications such as iMessage, KakaoTalk, LINE, Signal, Skype, Snapchat, Threema, Viber, WhatsApp and WeChat have become an increasingly popular means of personal and business interaction. Surprisingly little academic effort has gone into understanding the nature and origin of these...

Augmenting consumer welfare was a key justification behind the reform of utilities from the 1980s. But three decades later, evidence is mounting that consumer satisfaction with household utilities is quite uneven. Moreover; governments, regulators, and international organizations are...

This paper empirically investigates the effects of the $1.5 billion program Congress established to subsidize digital-to-analog converter boxes to help consumers transition to digital television broadcasts. The results show that the DTV coupon program has increased the price of digital-to-analog...

Purpose – This study aims to examine the factors that affect consumers' intention to use a global business-to-consumer sharing platform.Design/methodology – The questionnaire collected 300 copies from June 25 to July 11, 2019, of which 281 were used for statistical processing. The structural...

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the existing shortfall in telecommunications infrastructure in Peru, particularly in terms of Internet connectivity in urban areas, let alone rural ones. However, this challenge has also led to a shift in the population’s perception regarding the relevance of...