The Interplay between Regulation and Competition: The Case of Universal Service Obligations
20 Pages Posted: 13 May 2002
Date Written: March 2002
Abstract
Regulators have long been aware of the social aspects of communication. In the past, regulated monopolists have provided Universal Service Obligations, typically funded via a system of cross-subsidies. In this paper, we first review the rationale for imposing Universal Service Obligations, based both on theoretical arguments and empirical results. We then address some of the new questions raised by the ongoing liberalisation process. Regulators now face the challenging problem of organising the provision and financing of universal service in a competitive environment.
Keywords: Universal Service Obligations, Regulation, Competition
JEL Classification: L43, L51, IL2
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Competition in Communication Networks: Pricing and Regulation
-
Public Good Issues in Target: Natural Monopoly, Scale Economies, Network Effects and Cost Allocation
By Wilko Bolt and David B. Humphrey
-
The New Concept of Universal Service in a Digital Networked Communications Environment
By Mira Burri
-
Dominant Firms, Imitation, and Incentives to Innovate
By Luis M. B. Cabral and Ben Polak
-
Dominant Firms, Imitation, and Incentives to Innovate
By Luis M. B. Cabral and Ben Polak
-
National FTTH Plans in France, Italy and Portugal
By Marc Bourreau, Carlo Cambini, ...
-
Assessing Effects of Price Regulation in Retail Payment Systems
-
Can Access Price Indexation Promote Efficient Investment in Next Generation Networks?
-
By Payal Malik