Journal Article

Telecommunications reform and the internal market in Europe

Wolter Lemstra, Nicolai van Gorp

2013

Overview

Purpose - This paper seeks to make an assessment of the progress towards a fully fledged internal market for e-communications in the European Union. The assessment is placed in the context of a quarter century of telecommunications reform in Europe. Design/methodology/approach - A combination of qualitative and quantitative assessments is applied with a focus on fixed and mobile communications. The qualitative assessment includes interviews and a questionnaire. The quantitative assessment is based on econometric analysis of panel data. Findings - Removing the remaining barriers in the internal market may in the long run provide benefits of [euro]27-55bn or the equivalent of 0.2-0.4 percent of GDP at the European level. Major barriers identified are related to the degree of openness of national markets and the ability of telecom firms to exploit EU-level economies of scale. Research limitations/implications - In the econometric benefit analysis no secondary effects are included. Further research is recommended to assess the effects, costs and benefits of enforcing a higher degree of harmonisation. Practical implications - The paper provides insights and recommendations that are valuable for policy makers. Originality/value - The paper places the research executed in support of a study for the European Commission in the historical context of the telecommunications reform.

• Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subject: Common markets / Communications networks / Competition / Cost assessments / Econometrics / Economic research / Economies of scale / Evaluation / Harmonization / Infrastructure / Internal market / Liberalization / Market entry / Markets / Monopolies / Multinational corporations / Openness / Panel data / Policy making / Reforms / Studies / Telecommunications / Telecommunications industry / Telecommunications policy