The Regulation of National Roaming

National roaming is a measure that can be agreed commercially between operators to extend coverage or can be imposed or facilitated by governments as a means to increase competition amongst networks. It has been used with varying degrees of success in a range of countries, notably in the European Union. It has generally faced resistance from established operators, reluctant to assist prospective competitors and reduce their shares of the market. In some countries implementation has been so poor as to fail in the objectives. The absence of agreed procedures and performance indicators may have contributed to some of those failures. The costs of deploying third generation networks are causing some operators to look at more extensive agreements, sharing radio access networks, rather than national roaming. A further factor has been the lack of prospective entrants in mature markets, making national roaming less important than had been expected

DAB, the future of radio? The development of digital radio in four European countries

In common with most media and consumer technologies, radio is migrating from analogue to digital operation. Europe was the first region of the world to develop a digital replacement for traditional analogue broadcast radio. The Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) project began in 1987 and the first domestic DAB broadcasts began in 1995. However, DAB has made less progress than originally anticipated: some countries are at a relatively advanced level of development while others have not begun significant DAB services. This paper examines the development of the DAB service in four European countries, illustrating the variability in modes of development. The different digital policies adopted by each country is a key factor in these developments and we show how the existing state of analogue radio and the limitations of the technical system have shaped these policies

Public policy towards the sale of state assets in troubled times: Lessons from the Irish experience

The sale of state assets, both tangible (e.g. commercial firms) and intangible (e.g. radio spectrum), can address budgetary shortfalls. However, drawing on the Irish experience to inform this important issue, it becomes clear that much more is involved in selling state assets in electricity, gas, and transport than ranking such assets by value. Wider public policy considerations need to be taken into account in deciding what to sell and under what conditions. The paper outlines how these wider issues, relating to competition and regulation, can be dealt with so that the sale of state assets will enhance societal welfare