Market Evolution and Regulation in the Italian Telecommunications Industry
Main Article Content
Keywords
access regulation, market evolution, regulatory institutions, next generation networks.
Abstract
In this paper we analyse the evolution of the Italian telecommunications market since the beginning of the liberalisation and privatisation process in Italy started in the mid-nineties. The role of competition and regulatory authorities is also considered. We present a survey of the main regulatory interventions in the industry as well as the market structure and its dynamics in the period 2000-2015. We also provide some insights on the current state of the ultra-fast broadband access and the evolution of the so called “next generation networks”. In this regard, the recent Italian government’s plan regarding the deployment of the broadband services is also discussed. Our research can provide helpful information on telecommunications trends in Italy and would help to assess past as well as ongoing policies.
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References
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Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM). 2000-2016. ‘The Communications Authority Annual Report’. Annual reports on the activity carried out and on the work programmes. Naples. Available from: https://www.agcom.it/relazioni-annuali
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The World Trade Organization. ‘Telecommunications services: Current commitments and exemptions’. Accessed 24 September 2016. Available from: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/serv_e/telecom_e/telecom_e.htm
Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM). 2000-2016. ‘The Communications Authority Annual Report’. Annual reports on the activity carried out and on the work programmes. Naples. Available from: https://www.agcom.it/relazioni-annuali
Bourreau, M.; Cambini, C.; Dogan, P. 2012. ‘Access Pricing, Competition, and Incentives to Migrate From “Old” to “New” Technology’. International Journal of Industrial Organization 30, 713-723.
Bourreau, M; Cambini, C; Dogan, P. 2014. ‘Access Regulation and the Transition from Copper to Fiber Networks in Telecoms’. Journal of Regulatory Economics 45(3), 233- 258.
Bourreau, M; Cambini, C; Hoerng, S. 2015. ‘Geographical Access Markets and Investments’. Information Economics and Policy 31, 13-21.
Bregni, S; Melen, R. 2002. ‘Local loop unbundling in the Italian network’. IEEE Communications Magazine, Volume 40, Issue 10, October 2002, pp 86-93.
Buigues, P.A. 2001. 'European policy on local loop unbundling competition law background and problems of implementation'. EURO CPR Conference 2001. October; Venice, Italy. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/speeches/index_theme_3.html .
Cambini, C; Polo, M; Sassano, A. 2016. ‘Fiber to the people: The development of the ultra-broadband network in Italy’. Journal of Economic Policy, 32(2), 179-209.
Cambini, Carlo; Ravazzi, Piercarlo; Valletti, Tommaso. 2003. Il mercato delle telecomunicazioni: Dal monopolio alla liberalizzazione negli Stati Uniti e nella UE. Bologna, Italy: il Mulino.
European Commission Digital Single Market: Digital Scoreboard. 2016. ‘Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR): Italy’. A report complementing the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) country profile. Brussels, 2016. Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/scoreboard/italy
European Commission Press Release. 2010a. ‘Digital Agenda for Europe: key initiatives’. Brussels, 19 May 2010. Available from: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-10-200_en.htm
European Commission Press Release. 2010b. ‘Digital Agenda: Commission endorses general model of Italian regulator to calculate wholesale access prices; asks it to recalculate maintenance and commercial costs’. Brussels, 21 October 2010. Available from: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-10-1361_en.htm?locale=en
OECD. 2001. ‘Regulatory Reform in Italy: Regulatory Reform in the Telecommunications Industry’. Paris: OECD. Available at: http://www.oecd.org/regreform/2717568.pdf
TNS Opinion & Social. 2013. ‘E-Communications Household Survey’. Survey conducted for the European Commission, field work February-March 2013. Special Eurobarometer 396. Published in November 2013. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_396_en.pdf
The World Trade Organization. ‘Telecommunications services: Current commitments and exemptions’. Accessed 24 September 2016. Available from: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/serv_e/telecom_e/telecom_e.htm
Article Sidebar
Published
Jan 11, 2017
Article Details
How to Cite
Cambini, C., & Soroush, G. (2017). Market Evolution and Regulation in the Italian Telecommunications Industry. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 4(4), 58–79. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v4n4.72
Issue
Section
Telecommunications
Copyright Telecommunications Association Inc.
Author Biographies
Carlo Cambini, Politecnico di Torino & Florence School of Regulation – EUI, Florence
Carlo Cambini is Professor of Industrial Organization and Regulation at the Politecnico di Torino and economic member of the Scientific Committee of the Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI - Florence. He has an extensive background in research focusing on industrial economics, regulatory economics and competition policy with a strong background in telecommunications, energy markets and transportation. He won the award as best Young Economist at the International meeting of the European Association of Researcher in Industrial Economics – EARIE (Lausanne, 2000). His work has been published in leading scientific journals such as the RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, International Journal of Industrial Organization. He has been invited as Keynote Speaker on regulation and competition issues in telecommunications in conferences organized by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (Brisbane, 2012), the New Zealand Commerce Commission (Wellington, 2013) and the Independent Regulators Group - IRG (Frauenfeld, 2014) on the evolution of telecom markets and regulation.Golnoush Soroush, Politecnico di Torino
Golnoush Soroush is a PhD candidate in Management, Production and Design at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Her general field of research is regulation of infrastructure industries with a focus on telecommunications as well as electricity sector. Her current research activities mostly cover energy economics and grid tariff design.
She holds a Master degree in Management and Engineering during which she experienced working on telecommunications sector while preparing her master’s degree thesis. In the thesis, the possible relationship between size of the telecommunications industry and economic growth was examined and possible policy implications were discussed.
