Effects of Temporary Regulation of Asymmetric Access Charges in Telecommunications

Abstract

In a liberalized telecommunications market, an incumbent possesses several advantages over any entrant. It has been claimed that in such a market environment, there should be regulation of asymmetric access charges between an incumbent and an entrant. In this paper, we show that asymmetric access charges should be imposed temporarily but not permanently. That is, there should be deregulation once the entrant is fully competitive with the incumbent. This is because temporary regulation accelerates corporate investment and enhances economic welfare. In addition, when the competitive market environment is most intense under temporary regulation, investment timing is at the earliest point, which maximizes consumer surplus. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.