Telecommunication markets are characterized by a dynamic development of technology and market structures. The specific features of network-based markets, convergence of previously separate spheres and the complex task of market regulation put traditional theoretical approaches as well as current regulatory policies to the test. This book sheds light on some of the challenges ahead. It covers a vast range of subjects from the intricacies of market regulation to new markets for mobile and internet-related services. The diffusion of broadband technology and the emergence of new business strategies that respond to the technological and regulatory challenges are treated in the book 's 24 chapters.

Telecommunication markets are characterized by a dynamic development of technology and market structures. The specific features of network-based markets, convergence of previously separate spheres and the complex task of market regulation put traditional theoretical approaches as well as current regulatory policies to the test. This book sheds light on some of the challenges ahead. It covers a vast range of subjects from the intricacies of market regulation to new markets for mobile and internet-related services. The diffusion of broadband technology and the emergence of new business strategies that respond to the technological and regulatory challenges are treated in the book 's 24 chapters.

The promotion of competition in Europes network industries has been in the foreground of economic policy in recent years. Network industries have undergone dramatic changes, involving privatization, liberalization and deregulation as well as reregulation. But there are still many unresolved problems in both economic policy as well as economic research. Hence, a vivid exchange between academics and policy makers has emerged to find the optimal framework for these industries. This volume contributes to this discussion, containing several papers on various network industries.

Access to essential facilities or so-called bottlenecks has become the key public policy issue for the liberalization of network industries such as telecommunications, electricity, rail and so on. Still, access prices are not only important for competition in formerly monopolistic industries, but also for industries where competition has long been established such as payment and credit card networks or mobile telecommunications. As the latter industries have also come under closer scrutiny by regulatory agencies and competition authorities, this book is dedicated to the analysis of access pricing in theory and practice.
The structure of this book which is organized in five parts is as follows: The extended introduction will introduce the key concepts and issues including a brief explanation of the essential facility concept as well as the distinction between one-way and two-way access and will briefly survey the main contributions within the literature on access pricing theory and practice. While parts I and II deal with the theory of one-way and two-way access pricing, respectively, part III focuses on the newly emerging theory of access pricing with multihoming. Parts IV and V address the practice side and focus on industry-specific applications and special problems (Part IV) as well as public policy issues (Part V).
*Provides valuable theoretical and empirical analyses in Access Pricing and related topics
*Offers several different points of view
*Features research from highly reputed scientists working in this field