This paper examines the effects of the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) using data from Uruguay. MNP allows customers to switch mobile providers while retaining their phone number, thereby reducing switching costs and potentially enhancing competition. Our analysis reveals that...

Der vorliegende Diskussionsbeitrag stellt die ökonomischen Hintergründe und Anreize beim Vertrieb von leitungsgebundenen Breitbandanschlüssen über Preisvergleichsportale dar. Des Weiteren beschäftigt er sich mit der Provisionsstruktur und der Bedeutung der Portale für den Breitbandmarkt...

The current study provides comprehensive data on 2022 retail prices of fixed and mobile broadband offers for consumers in the EU27, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Japan, South Korea and the USA. The five largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the three largest Mobile Network...

The current study provides comprehensive data on 2022 retail prices of fixed and mobile broadband offers for consumers in the EU27, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Japan, South Korea and the USA. The five largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the three largest Mobile Network...

Several mobile telecommunication companies (MTCs), such as AT&T, Verizon, and China Mobile, are investing in content services to drive continued growth as the telecom industry has become saturated. In this study, we investigate the competition between two MTCs, one of which (MTC 1) provides both...

Digital platforms and data-driven business models have become integral to today's internet economy. Large technology companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft exert control over access to online content, products, services and social interactions through their digital ecosystems and...

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the interstate rates for inmate calling services, and over the years, has made some progress in lowering rates from egregiously high historic levels. However, correctional facilities, in large part, rely on the same provider for both voice...

We evaluate the welfare effects of the Roam-Like-At-Home regulation, which drastically re-duced the price of accessing the mobile internet for EU residents when traveling abroad in the European Economic Area. Estimates from individual-level usage data suggest that consumer surplus increased by...

For three decades the government of South Africa has sought to make telecommunications universally available and affordable. In its last days, the National Party government persuaded with the African National Congress (ANC) there should be licences for two competing international groups to build...

We empirically assess the impact of the EU roaming regulation on mobile operators’ average revenues per user (ARPU) and retail prices. Using a differences-in-difference approach, hedonic price regressions and detailed operator and plan-level data we find that the regulation decreased mobile...

Im Rahmen des vorliegenden Diskussionsbeitrags wird die Angebots- und Wettbewerbsentwicklung auf dem deutschen Festnetzmarkt im Zeitraum 2017 bis 2020 analysiert. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Untersuchung der Preisentwicklung von Double-Play-Tarifen (Internet + Telefon) für private Endnutzer in...

The roam-like-at-home regulation (RLAH) eliminated all mobile roaming surcharges to Eu-ropean consumers travelling within the European Economic Area (EEA). We measure the causal impact of the regulation on EEA roaming traffic, using the Rest of the World as a control group. We find large and...

We empirically assess the impact of the EU roaming regulation on mobile operators' average revenues per user (ARPU) and retail prices. Using a differences-in-difference approach, hedonic price regressions and detailed operator and plan-level data we find that the regulation decreased mobile...

This paper investigates the impacts of the current roaming rules on domestic competition and welfare. We consider a model for two countries in which each country has two operators that compete in the retail market for access services and also in the wholesale market for roaming. We first derive...

We explain the recent events in the German market for online access using a model of a regulated monopoly renting phone lines to retailers. Retailers offer either a linear or a flat tariff to consumers. Consumer heterogeneity leads to adverse selectiion. We show why market entry for flatrate...

This paper surveys the recent literature on competition between mobile networks in the presence of call externalities and network effects. It argues that the regulation of mobile termination rates based on fully allocated costs, or “long-run incremental cost plus”, exacerbates the network...

This paper examines the causes and effects of mobile number portability (MNP) and provides a survey of its implementation in Europe. We first examine the competitive effects and the costs of introducing MNP. Next, we discuss how to charge for MNP. We argue that a price cap regime starting from...

International Mobile Roaming (IMR) is a service whereby a user who subscribes to mobile telecommunications services in one country is able to use his or her mobile device in other countries. For many years, governments around the world have expressed concerns that the price of IMR services...

As a case study of an ex-post evaluation of regulations, in this paper I evaluate the ‘uniform settlement rate requirement', a regulation that was introduced in 1986 and that was applied to the international telephone market in the U.S. for more than 20 years. In a bilateral market between the...

Software Defined Networking (SDN) und Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) sind die nächsten Entwicklungsschritte in der Architektur der NGN basierten Telekommunikationsnetze. Dies gilt gleichermaßen für das Fest- wie für das Mobilfunknetz. Wesentliche Funktionen des Netzmanagements und der...

I develop a multiproduct nonlinear pricing model where a firm sells both discrete and continuous goods/services to consumers with multidimensional heterogeneity. I derive the optimal selling mechanism and provide primitive conditions under which different bundling strategies arise. Exploiting...

We evaluate the impact of mobile operators merger on unitary price of data and voice by using country-level observations on data retail revenue, cellular data traffic, voice retail revenue, outgoing voice minutes. Using difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we estimate the effect of...

This article outlines the legislative proposals of the European Commission and the European Parliament for an abolition of international roaming charges. Considering the current European legislative framework and the effectiveness of the proposed amendments, we conclude that neither of the...

The evaluation of a large scale public divestiture should be carried out using the tools of applied welfare economics. Nevertheless a comprehensive evaluation of the British experience with these instruments is beyond our possibilities, since it requires detailed microdata that are not available...

Regulators in many countries have asserted that setting asymmetric mobile termination rates (MTRs) between the incumbent mobile telephony operator and its smaller rivals is an efficacious means by which to help entrants attain efficient scale. We investigate empirically the efficacy of this...

Since June 15, 2017, mobile network operators in the European Economic Area may not impose surcharges for making telephone calls, sending text messages, or using data services in other EEA countries. The regulation was designed to create a digital domestic market without adversely affecting...

In theory, network profits are independent of the reciprocal termination rates when operators charge nondiscriminatory call prices (Laffont, Rey and Tirole, 1998). Additionally, termination rates can be used to subsidize subscriber acquisition cost. This issue is typically known as a "waterbed...

Given the fast pace of change within the European telecommunications market over the last decade and new trends in consumer behaviour, the European Commission (EC) has recognised the need to adapt its regulatory framework so as to enable full economic growth and maximise end-user benefits. The...

The problem of international mobile roaming (IMR) was defined in 1999 ‒ prices that were far in excess of costs and were seemingly immune from the competitive forces that might be expected to drive them down. The case is complicated by retail and wholesale markets being in different countries...