Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Frequently used symbols
- License agreement and warranty disclaimer
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Telecommunications
- 3 The basic model
- 4 Facilities-based entry in a non-segmented market
- 5 Non-facilities-based entry in a non-segmented market
- 6 Entry in a non-segmented market: alternative pricing strategies
- 7 Non-targeted entry in a segmented market
- 8 Targeted entry
- 9 Concluding remarks
- Appendix: sample simulation program
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- Frequently used symbols
- License agreement and warranty disclaimer
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Telecommunications
- 3 The basic model
- 4 Facilities-based entry in a non-segmented market
- 5 Non-facilities-based entry in a non-segmented market
- 6 Entry in a non-segmented market: alternative pricing strategies
- 7 Non-targeted entry in a segmented market
- 8 Targeted entry
- 9 Concluding remarks
- Appendix: sample simulation program
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Motivation
Telecommunications markets all over the world recently have been, and still are, undergoing drastic changes, fuelled by market reforms and technological progress. State-owned monopolists have been privatized and markets have been liberalized. These transformed markets have attracted entrants in many varieties. Some entrants roll out complete networks, while others build only partial networks or perhaps offer services without having infrastructure themselves but by having access to the networks of incumbent operators.
The move away from regulated monopolies has been made possible by advances in communications technology, which have made the view that markets for fixed telephony are natural monopolies less plausible. The argument in the past was that the cost of connecting end users by digging holes for fixed lines was too high to support more than one operator. Arguably, since the speed at which entrants have been rolling out local networks is perhaps lower than was expected, it is not completely clear to what extent the natural-monopoly argument is no longer valid, in particular in residential and rural segments of the market. However, in the relatively young markets for mobile telephony, voice and data are transmitted over the airwaves so that costly fixed connections are not needed. The argument in favor of competition is therefore more clear cut for mobile telephony. In most national markets in Europe, several network operators have been able to gain substantial customer bases within a couple of years of liberalization taking place.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003