Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/333826 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
FERDI Working Paper No. P357
Publisher: 
Fondation pour les études et recherches sur le développement international (FERDI), Clermont-Ferrand
Abstract: 
Submarine cables enable international connectivity and are essential for high- speed internet access. This paper examines their impact on internet access price, focusing on price reductions driven by cost savings and competition intensity. Using a dataset of submarine cable capacity and internet access prices across 150 countries over 12 years, and following an instrumental variable approach, the analysis finds that a doubling of submarine cable capacity reduces internet prices by 30-50 percent, with regional disparities. In fixed broadband markets, market concentration initially lowers prices, reflecting economies of scale, but raises them in the long term, a dynamic less evident in mobile broadband markets. Telecom market regulations, particularly those em- powering regulators to oversee competition, infrastructure sharing, and consumer protection, amplify these effects. The findings are robust to adopting a staggered difference-in-differences framework.
Subjects: 
Telecommunications
Submarine Cable
Price
Competition
Regulation
JEL: 
E31
L51
L96
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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