Analyzing Telecommunications Market Competition: A Comparison Of Cases

This paper examines three case studies regarding the assessment of market competition in telecommunications: the finding by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that AT&T was non-dominant in the U.S. long distance market in the early 1990s; the finding by Ofcom in the United Kingdom that each mobile network operator possessed significant market power for the termination of calls to its subscribers; and Japan's development of pro-competitive policies for its telecommunications markets. A study of these cases reveals that liberalization can be "Path-dependent" and unique historical features and national priorities shape the evolution of competition policy.