This book analyses telecommunications markets from early to mature competition, filling the gap between the existing economic literature on competition and the real-life application of theory to policy. Paul De Bijl and Martin Peitz focus on both the transitory and the persistent asymmetries between telephone companies, investigating the extent to which access price and retail price regulation stimulate both short- and long-term competition. They explore and compare various settings, such as non-linear versus linear pricing, facilities-based versus unbundling-based or carrier-select-based competition, non-segmented versus segmented markets. On the basis of their analysis, De Bijl and Peitz then formulate guidelines for policy. This book is a valuable resource for academics, regulators and telecommunications professionals. It is accompanied by simulation programs devised by the authors both to establish and to illustrate their results.

Review of the hardback:‘Paul de Bijl and Martin Peitz substantially expand our understanding of corporate strategies and regulatory trade-offs in the telecommunications industry. Using a rigorous analytical framework, they guide us through the early liberalization stage toward competition in a mature market. This insightful and comprehensive book is essential reading for all academics, consultants and industry professionals concerned with telecommunications.’

Jean Tirole - University of Toulouse

Review of the hardback:‘This book should become indispensable for regulators dealing with the trade-offs between improving consumer welfare and increasing competition in telecommunications markets. It should be equally important for scholars and students studying such markets and for policy and market analysts in the telecommunications sector. What distinguishes the book is the variety of market settings considered by the authors and the facilities provided to the readers ultimately to do their own calculations and draw their own conclusions for situations deemed relevant for the readers. De Bijl and Peitz’s great strength is the clarity and rigor of their approach. Their assumptions are always carefully laid out and justified and their results are provided with all due caveats. Nevertheless a wealth of strong results and policy implications emerges.’

Ingo Vogelsang - Boston University

Review of the hardback:‘In summary, this well-written and logically organized book provides many useful insights for policymakers, industry consultants, and academics alike. Although the formal analysis abstracts from many issues of substantial practical importance, the models analyzed in the book (and the additional simulations that readers can explore on their own) are unusually rich and capture many essential features of regulation and competition in network industries.’

David Sappington Source: Journal of Economic Literature