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Competitive effects of mergers and of spectrum divestment remedies in mobile telecommunication markets

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  • Brito, Duarte
  • Vasconcelos, Helder

Abstract

Motivated by recent mergers in mobile telecommunications markets, this paper investigates the merger induced effects on consumer surplus in a setting where: (i) the industry is modeled as a triopoly in which firms sell products that are both horizontally and vertically differentiated; (ii) the merging parties are able to pool their spectrum assets; and (iii) the joint management of pooled spectrum assets enables merging parties to offer a better quality service, for which customers are willing to pay more. From a merger policy perspective, our contribution is two-fold. First, we conclude that mergers may benefit consumers even in the absence of any cost-related efficiencies and establish under which circumstances this is more likely to occur. Second, our results also indicate that when the merger has a negative impact on consumer surplus, remedies based on reallocation of spectrum are not very likely to change this outcome. The reason is that the circumstances under which the merger is unlikely to benefit consumers are precisely those under which spectrum reallocation will be unable to fix merger-induced anticompetitive effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Brito, Duarte & Vasconcelos, Helder, 2023. "Competitive effects of mergers and of spectrum divestment remedies in mobile telecommunication markets," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:47:y:2023:i:10:s0308596123001374
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2023.102626
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mergers; Spectrum assets; Vertical differentiation; Horizontal differentiation; Divestiture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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