The impact of infrastructure and service-based competition on the deployment of next generation access networks: Recent evidence from the European member states

This work identifies the most important determinants of next generation access (NGA) network deployment, using data from the EU27 member states for the years 2005–2011. Our results indicate that the more service-based competition is pronounced the more negative is the impact on NGA deployment, while competitive pressure from broadband cable and mobile affects NGA deployment in an inverted U-shaped manner. We further find that there are severe adjustment costs and stickiness towards the desired long-term level of NGA infrastructure. It appears that the approach of the European Commission to force service-based competition via cost-based access regulation will not elicit the huge new investment needed for a comprehensive NGA roll-out.