| Abstract: | Since the liberalization of European telecommunications markets,regulators at European and national level have been relativelysuccessful in forcing down the price of access to the historicmonopolists' fixed network. This has led, however, to the developmentprimarily of ‘service competition’ in most of Europe,while infrastructure competition has been limited. As a consequence,investment levels are significantly lower than in the UnitedStates, particularly for the provision of broadband. Mobiletelephony has, however, diffused quickly in Europe comparedwith the United States, partly as a result of the successfulsecond-generation Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)standard adopted, and partly as a result of the charging systemsemployed. These developments have, however, been imperilledby the cost and delays associated with third-generation mobiletechnology. A new regime for regulating communications is currentlybeing developed in Europe. If properly applied, it will reduceregulatory intervention and promote investment and innovationin both fixed and mobile services, but there is a risk thatnational regulators may thwart this outcome. |
