The Impact of Regulation and Competition on the Adoption of Fiber-based Broadband Services: Recent Evidence from the European Member States

Although fibre-deployment of next generation access (NGA) broadband networks is considered as a decisive development for any information-based society, investment activities and especially the
adoption of fiber-based broadband services take place only very gradually in most countries. This
work identifies the most important determinants of NGA broadband adoption, using most recent panel data from the European Union member states (EU27) for the years from 2004 to 2012.
The results show that stricter previous broadband access regulation has a negative impact on NGA
adoption, while competitive pressure from mobile networks affects NGA adoption in a non-linear
manner. It appears that the approach of strict cost-based access regulation embedded in the EU
regulatory framework is at odds with the ambitious targets outlined in the European Commission´s
"Digital Agenda". Finally, we find strong evidence for network effects underlying the NGA adoption
process.