ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COMPETITION POLICY ENFORCEMENT ON THE FUNCTIONING OF TELECOMS MARKETS IN THE EU

The report empirically investigates the causal effects of three decisions adopted by the European Commission on the performance of telecoms markets, namely the T-Mobile/Orange merger in the UK mobile markets, a state aid decision in the German fixed broadband market and an abuse of dominant position by Telekomunikacja Polska in the Polish fixed market. The study also presents a quantitative analysis on the impact of a merger, an antitrust and a state aid decision adopted by the European Commission around 2010. Based on the differences in differences method, the analyses empirically investigate the causal relationship between the decisions and the performance of the telecoms markets, measured mainly through prices, penetration, coverage, investment. Broadly, results show that the enforcement of the three decisions contributed to the better functioning of the affected fixed and mobile markets and provide useful insights for the future decision making process.

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