In this Policy Paper, we analyze the effects of quot;network neutralityquot; proposals that seek to mandate an inflexible set of rules that would foreclose or severely limit many market transactions. Our model reveals that under plausible conditions, rules that prohibit efficient commercial...

Over the past twenty years we have seen the emergence of an important phenomenon in the practice of modern regulation — cooperative bargaining between the regulator and the regulated over a “bundle” of seemingly unrelated issues. Because of the multiplicity of issues being adjudicated...

In the last year, many advocates have called for the imposition of Carterfone regulation on the wireless industry. The FCC partially heeded this call when it imposed open platform regulations on one substantial block of spectrum (the Upper C block) that was recently part of the record-setting...

This Policy Paper demonstrates that policies that hinder a new entrant's ability to sell video programming, such as forcing entrants to obtain a local cable franchise agreement, will strongly diminish that entrant's incentive to deploy fiber to low-income households. Using publicly-available...

Three years after the execution of the VAP, Chinese government has managed to hoist its national village penetration to 98.9% at the end of 2006, which means about 99% of the total administrative villages nationwide have now been connected by at least two workable telephone lines. As part of the...

The new telecommunications regulator in Mexico, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (IFT), recently issued a public consultation on its draft regulation for must carry and must offer (MCMO) conditions in the broadcasting sector. This, together with the recent Constitutional reforms on...

The importance of efficient workings of network industries and the markets in which they operate has long been recognized in the literature. In a parallel fashion, policy makers around the world initiated various restructuring efforts focusing on these sectors. However, the issues of...

The United States has asymmetric regulation of the provision of broadband Internet access service. A cable television system operator is not regulated in its sale of cable modem service. In contrast, an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) that offers digital subscriber line (DSL) service...

During the past several years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has engaged in a series of rulemakings to determine the regulatory status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The Supreme Court's recent decision in the consolidated cases of National Cable and Telecommunications...

The endemic underuse of radio spectrum constitutes a tragedy of the regulatory commons. Like other common interest tragedies, the outcome results from a legal or market structure that prevents economic actors from executing socially efficient bargains. In wireless markets, innovative...