There is an ongoing discussion in the market which Next Generation Access (NGA) architecture best suits future needs and which investment and cost differences exist. The discussion can be subsumed as P2P vs. GPON, which is somewhat misleading as this article reveals. The discussion is driven by...

In many countries worldwide access networks are in the transition from copper to fiber access. During the transition phase copper and fiber networks are operated in parallel. All regulators facing this situation of technological change have to decide how to price unbundled access to the copper...

Investments in next generation access networks (NGANs) ask for a new set of regulatory remedies. This paper contributes to this debate by focusing on three issues: the migration from the legacy copper network to the NGA infrastructure, and how wholesale pricing regulation might affect this...

This article examines three major changes which have been occuring in the telecommunications market: liberalization, leading to increased competition in services and equipment, the internationalization of the equipment market, and a rapidly changing industrial structure. The interrelationship...

This article discusses the problems which arise if liberalization in telecommunications has to be brought about under strong equity constraints. It is shown that, under West Germany's political framework, the average consumer exerts a much larger influence on telecommunications policy than in,...

The increasing danger of excess capacity in the regulated fixed networks calls into question the established long-standing pricing standards for wholesale services based on forward-looking long-run incremental costs (FL-LRAIC). Within the EU "Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications...

The paper reviews the preceeding theoretical and econometric analysis, and the case study of the Netherlands. It suggests that entrants' strategies will be influenced by the level of access prices and on the degree of investment in infrastructure which entrants have to make to be eligible to...

This paper analyzes the role of different contract types and access regulation on innovation and competition in telecommunications in the context of Next Generation Access Networks. Within a standard duopoly model, it is shown that ex-post access contracts lead less often to the duplication of...

The introduction of VoIP telephony raises concerns about current regulatory practice. Access regulation has been designed for PSTN and the liberalization of the PSTN market. This paper explores the effects of access regulation of PSTN networks on consumers' adoption of a new technology in the...

This paper discusses European legislation concerning interconnection between telecommunications operators. An important and distinct element of regulatory policy in the European Union is that operators with significant market power are required to provide cost-based interconnection whereas other...