Competition In Local Telecommunications Markets

The authors analyze regulatory reform and the emergence of competitionin network industries using the state-of-the-art theoretical tools ofindustrial organization, political economy, and the economics ofincentives.

According to this book, the anticipated benefits of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are proving elusive, as competiton has been slow to rise, and government agencies have been slow to implement the deregulation and market-opening processes specified in the new law. The authors argue that the pace of innovation and the telecom industry's demonstrated capacity to restructure itself efficiently show that the benefits of competition far outweigh the costs of trying to micromanage the industry through regulation.

The local and short distance telecommunications markets - the "last ten miles" - of the telecommunications industry are the target of this study. Information is provided about telecommunications technology and network structure, and their relationship to t

This volume brings together academic economists and lawyers to evaluate and compare the regulation of telecommunications markets in Germany and the United States. The unifying theme in all of the pa pers is that the goal of public policy in this area should be to make the broadest and most functional competition possible by means of an ap propriate regulatory framework. Because the European and American telecommunications markets are becoming more intertwined each day, the issues addressed in this volume will be topical to the business, government, and academic communities for some time. For the chairman of the Monopoly Commission, Wernhard Moschel, the opening of the German telecommunications market has been successful in principle. This is clearly recognizable in the case of the competition in long-distance transport. Based on the view that the regulatory authority should make itself obsolete, Professor Moschel advocates an incremental review and gradual reduction of regulation.