As climate change augurs longer wildfire seasons, safe, reliable, and competitive energy and communications markets depend on sound infrastructure and well-calibrated regulation. The humble wooden utility pole, first deployed in America in 1844 to extend telegraph service, forms the twenty-first...

The Federal Communications Commission’s proposed net neutrality rules would, among other things, prohibit broadband access providers from prioritizing traffic, charging differential prices based on the priority status, imposing congestion-related charges, and adopting business models that...

As the information age progresses, the need for cheap, easy Internet access increases if we want citizens to be able to participate in the global economy. In both the United States and the European Union, cities have taken the lead in attempting to provide Internet access via wireless Internet...

The Federal Communications Commission has spent $30 billion over the past decade on subsidies for phone service in high cost areas, but it has never developed outcome goals or measures to assess whether the subsidies have accomplished the intended results. Congress should require the FCC to...

Reform of federal programs and regulations that subsidize phone companies in rural areas is a perennial topic of debate at the Federal Communications Commission and in Congress. Economic analysys suggests several principles that would lead to a reform plan most conducive to overall consumer...

Der Koalitionsvertrag der Großen Koalition enthält ambitionierte Aussagen in Bezug auf einen fl ächendeckenden Ausbau eines schnellen Internets. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob die konkreten Zielsetzungen diesen Ambitionen gerecht werden und mit den vorgesehenen Maßnahmen realisierbar sind. Der...

Telecommunications is a key element of the ICT sector which has been shaped by strong innovation dynamics since the 1990s. Market dynamics in OECD telecommunications markets are analyzed. We present new ideas about efficient regulation, emphasizing the need to adopt a broader international...

Regulatory reform efforts in a broad range of industries have resulted in increased importance of competitive forces as a means to allocate resources and improve economic efficiency. A number of indicators suggest that such forces have been stronger in the United States than in most other OECD...

The rise of the platform economy has been the subject of celebration and critique. Platform companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Postmates have been rightfully celebrated as positively disruptive, introducing much–needed competition in industries that have been otherwise over–mature and...

The European Directive on common rules for the internal market in electricity (2009/72/EC) requires all member states to 'ensure the implementation of intelligent metering systems' in order to foster a more active involvement of customers in the electricity market. Such intelligent metering...