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...

Alternative telecom operators have continuously invested in their own infrastructure in recent years. After more than a decade since liberalisation, competitive conditions have substantially changed, especially in urban areas. European regulatory authorities have acknowledged this development by...

The paper assesses the scope for competition inducing infrastructure regulation in furthering the diffusion of innovation. The paper uses data on the adoption of broadband services comprising a global panel of 167 countries. The effects of different regulatory provisions are assessed. The result...

The paper assesses the scope for competition inducing infrastructure regulation in furthering the diffusion of innovation. The paper uses data on the adoption of broadband services comprising a global panel of 167 countries. The effects of different regulatory provisions are assessed. Inter-firm...

In POLICY BULLETIN NO. 54, I compared fixed broadband speeds across thousands of U.S. and foreign cities. My analysis revealed that average download speeds for fixed broadband are typically faster in the United States and often materially so, and U.S. upload speeds are comparable to other...

I compare fixed broadband speeds for a sample of thousands of U.S. and foreign cities. My analysis reveals that download speeds are typically faster in the United States and often materially so. Comparisons of upload speeds are mixed, but the differences are small and statistically no different...

This paper develops a structural model which allows estimating the impact of regulatory decisions looking for the setting of download-speed standards on market structure and performance. We characterize a setting under which quality standards improve both service quality and availability. As to...

Network neutrality has been at the center of US telecommunications policy for several years, culminating in a recent FCC order imposing a limited form of net neutrality on US broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The regulatory imposition of nondiscrimination and price regulation (the...

A country’s human capital and economic productivity increasingly depend on the Internet due to its expanding role in providing information and communications. This has prompted a search for ways to increase Internet adoption and narrow its disparity across countries – the global “digital...

There is a well-documented a "digital divide" in internet connection. We ask whether a similar divide exists for internet usage. Using a survey of 18,439 Americans, we find that high-income, educated people were more likely to have adopted the internet by December 2001. However, conditional on...