Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/203579 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2019: 30 Jahre Mauerfall - Demokratie und Marktwirtschaft - Session: Industrial Organisation III No. D25-V3
Publisher: 
ZBW - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel, Hamburg
Abstract: 
For the ongoing and upcoming auctioning of 5G spectrum an important question is, what drives network quality in mobile markets? When comparing the provided mobile network quality between various EU countries considerable differences between these markets become apparent, which cannot be solely explained by financial and geographic factors. Recent findings in the literature suggest a negative effect of (price) competition on investments in mobile networks. To the best of our knowledge this is the first academic paper to provide a detailed analysis of how different characteristics of the market structure affect mobile network quality. In total, we consider 500 million measurements of the mobile network quality of 48 mobile network operators (MNO) from 14 European countries between 2011 and 2016. Our results indicate that a reduction in market players may actually increase mobile network quality, thus supporting the findings in the recent literature. Further, we observe a significantly higher mobile network quality for late entrants in the market, underlining how outcomes from spectrum auctions may alter competition in the mobile market.
Subjects: 
mobile telecommunication
market structure
network quality
investment
competition policy
regulation
antitrust
JEL: 
L96
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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