Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation
Publication

The Effect of Access Regulation on Broadband Deployment

This paper studies empirically whether mandatory unbundling delayed the deployment of DSL service by BellSouth by exploiting a law change in Kentucky and variation in access prices across markets. I find that deregulation in Kentucky triggered deployment, but I find no evidence that access prices affected deployment pace. An upper bound on the welfare loss due to late deployment in rural markets is $21 million. The findings are consistent with a positive effect of deregulation on the profitability of upgrades, but can also result from a strategic delay which is part of the bargaining between the firm and the regulator.

Author(s)
Amitay Alter
Publication Date
December, 2006