Competition and Regulation Issues in Telecommunications
416 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2002
Date Written: February 1, 2002
Abstract
This document (of 416 pages) comprises the proceedings of an OECD roundtable on competition issues in the telecommunications industry, which was held in May 2001.
This document discusses issues such as the regulation of mobile termination rates, whether to impose mandatory roaming, competition effects of "flat rate" calling packages, differential charging for on - and off - net calls and mergers in the telecommunications industry. A common theme behind many of these issues is a mis-match between the structure of access charges and retail charges. When access charges are less differentiated that retail charges, competition from rivals will be distorted (and perhaps highly restricted) and retail tariff structures will come under pressure.
This document consists of a background paper by the Secretariat, submissions from 19 OECD countries and a summary of the oral discussion.
Keywords: Mobile termination, mandatory roaming, flat-rate pricing
JEL Classification: L40, L96
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation