Deployment of Broadband platforms: Empirical evidence of a regulation failure

Abstract

This work tries to analyze why, in certain countries, the rivalry between broadband platforms has no effect on broadband deployment. Controlling for demographic features and network variables, we focus on analyzing the impact of regulations on the competitiveness of platforms offering an alternative to the dominant platform (xDSL). To reach this objective, this paper draws on data from cable and optical fiber platforms in the Spanish market. We find that the impact of different regulatory frameworks has critically affected the competitiveness of cable platforms and, in consequence, harmed inter-platform competition. By contrast, our results show that regulation is not discouraging the current spread of optical fiber platforms