IP-Based NGNs and Interconnection: The Debate in Europe

Historically, interconnection in the world of the Internet has been approached significantly differently from interconnection in the fixed Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the mobile Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). As fixed and mobile networks evolve to Next Generation Networks (NGNs) based on the Internet Protocol (IP), it becomes increasingly necessary to merge these perspectives in order to achieve a unified and integrated approach to network interconnection. There is a rich history of economic analysis of IP-based and of conventional switched networks that began to converge early in this decade. In 2008, this issue is coming to a boil, as regulators seek to provide regulatory certainty for the build-out of NGNs, even in the face of substantial uncertainties, and even though practical experience with NGNs is still in a very preliminary state. What can we learn from the historical evolution of the theory of interconnection for Internet, NGN, PSTN and PLMN? What issues are "in play" today? What is the appropriate destination in the long term? What nearer term measures are appropriate?

[1]  Ingo Vogelsang.  Abrechnungssysteme und Zusammenschaltungsregime aus ökonomischer Sicht , 2006 .

[2]  J. Laffont,et al.  Network Competition: I. Overview and Nondiscriminatory Pricing , 1998 .

[3]  M. Cave,et al.  How mobile termination charges shape the dynamics of the telecom sector , 2003 .

[4]  Stephen Littlechild,et al.  ‘Mobile Termination Charges: Calling Party Pays versus Receiving Party Pays’(original and revised versions) , 2004 .

[5]  M. AtkinsonJay,et al.  A competitively neutral approach to network interconnection , 2000 .

[6]  Andrew M. Odlyzko,et al.  Internet Pricing and the History of Communications , 2001, Comput. Networks.

[7]  Benjamin M. Compaine,et al.  Competitive Effects of Internet Peering Policies , 2000 .

[8]  J. Laffont,et al.  Network Competition: II. Price Discrimination , 1998 .

[9]  Intereconomics Suggested.  Network neutrality : The roots of the debate in the United States , 2008 .

[10]  Jean-Charles Rochet,et al.  Two-Sided Markets: An Overview ∗ , 2004 .

[11]  C. Shapiro,et al.  Network Externalities, Competition, and Compatibility , 1985 .

[12]  Jacques Crémer,et al.  Connectivity in the Commercial Internet , 2003 .

[13]  J. Scott Marcus,et al.  Internet Interconnection and the Off-Net-Cost Pricing Principle , 2001 .

[14]  Jean Tirole,et al.  On the Receiver Pays Principle , 2001 .

[15]  T. Valletti,et al.  Mobile Termination: What is the “Right” Charge?* , 2005 .

[16]  Julian Wright,et al.  Mobile Call Termination , 2007 .

[17]  H. Hotelling.  Stability in Competition , 1929 .

[18]  M. Cave,et al.  Does Europe Need Network Neutrality Rules , 2007 .

[19]  J. Laffont,et al.  Competition in telecommunications , 1999 .

[20]  M. Armstrong.  Network Interconnection in Telecommunications , 1998 .

[21]  Joseph Farrell,et al.  Standardization, Compatibility, and Innovation , 1985 .

[22]  Christos Genakos,et al.  Testing the 'Waterbed' Effect in Mobile Telephony , 2008 .

[23]  J. S. Marcus.  Call Termination Fees: The U.S. in global perspective , 2004 .