IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v44y2020i3s030859612030032x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investigating the intertwining impact of wholesale access pricing and the commitment to net neutrality principle on European next-generation access networks private investment plans: An options-game application for capturing market players' competitive interactions

Author

Listed:
  • Charalampopoulos, George
  • Katsianis, Dimitris
  • Varoutas, Dimitris

Abstract

Whilst the deployment of next generation access networks (NGANs) is undoubtedly beneficial to the economy, new legal developments in the United States (US) regarding the issue of net neutrality (NN) pose a new challenge not only to policy makers but to telecommunication providers as well, that could justify a fresh approach when assessing NGANs investments. In particular, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) subverted extant NN rules in the US and if the European Union (EU) decides to follow a similar deregulatory path in the future it could change the way telecommunications providers on both sides of the Atlantic lay down their optical-fibre network infrastructure investment plans. For instance, if traffic prioritization is allowed then diversification of revenue sources can be achieved by charging customers for privileged data delivery to their premises. Currently, NGANs roll-out throughout EU is an ongoing process in a setting whereby access regulation in the form of network element unbundling is already imposed. As a result, these legal developments form a new context within which it makes sense to assess the role of NGANs wholesale access pricing in tandem with the degree of commitment to NN rules so as to i) determine their combinatorial impact on private telecommunications operators' financial figures and ii) capture their competitive interactions. Towards this end, an important aspect of particular value to market players (i.e. incumbents and competitive providers – CPs), and policy makers (i.e. National Regulatory Authorities – NRAs) that this article aims to examine is how to employ the option-game (OG) analysis, that reflects the intersection of game theory (GT) and real options (ROs), to model the competitive interactions between participants in a particular competition game set-up by means of deriving possible Nash-equilibrium (NE) outcomes within a regulatory setting part of which is the commitment or non-commitment to the NN principle. This, hybrid, evaluation tool is applied on top of a conventional discounted cash flow (DCF) techno-economic analysis assessment of an NGAN investment opportunity.

Suggested Citation

  • Charalampopoulos, George & Katsianis, Dimitris & Varoutas, Dimitris, 2020. "Investigating the intertwining impact of wholesale access pricing and the commitment to net neutrality principle on European next-generation access networks private investment plans: An options-game a," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:44:y:2020:i:3:s030859612030032x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2020.101940
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030859612030032X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.101940?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Cambini, Carlo & Grajek, Michał, 2018. "Speeding up the internet: Regulation and investment in the European fiber optic infrastructure," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 613-652.
    2. Lee, In & Lee, Kyoochun, 2015. "The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, investments, and challenges for enterprises," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 431-440.
    3. Pindyck Robert S., 2007. "Mandatory Unbundling and Irreversible Investment in Telecom Networks," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(3), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Feijóo, Claudio & Ramos, Sergio & Armuña, Cristina & Arenal, Alberto & Gómez-Barroso, José-Luis, 2018. "A study on the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in NUTS3 regions within the framework of digital agenda for Europe," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 682-699.
    5. repec:fth:tilbur:9992 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Stocker, Volker & Whalley, Jason, 2018. "Speed isn't everything: A multi-criteria analysis of the broadband consumer experience in the UK," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 1-14.
    7. Lenos Trigeorgis, 1993. "Real Options and Interactions With Financial Flexibility," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), Fall.
    8. Frias, Zoraida & Martínez, Jorge Pérez, 2019. "Rollout and regulation of Fibre-To-The-Premises networks. Insights from the Spanish case," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 225-237.
    9. Kum-Soon Lim & Deok-Joo Lee & Hyung-Sik Oh, 2008. "Strategic investment planning in regional deployment of telecommunication services: a real options approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(2), pages 391-411, June.
    10. Huisman, K.J.M. & Kort, P.M., 1999. "Effects of Strategic Interactions on the Option Value of Waiting," Discussion Paper 1999-92, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    11. Peitz, Martin & Schuett, Florian, 2016. "Net neutrality and inflation of traffic," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 16-62.
    12. Lee, Sungho, 2011. "Consolidation of public safety wireless networks: An options-based economic analysis of numerous scenarios," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 91-101, March.
    13. Steven R. Grenadier, 2002. "Option Exercise Games: An Application to the Equilibrium Investment Strategies of Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 691-721.
    14. Grimes, Arthur & Townsend, Wilbur, 2018. "Effects of (ultra-fast) fibre broadband on student achievement," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 8-15.
    15. Angelou, Georgios N. & Economides, Anastasios A., 0. "A multi-criteria game theory and real-options model for irreversible ICT investment decisions," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10-11), pages 686-705, November.
    16. Avinash K. Dixit & Robert S. Pindyck, 1994. "Investment under Uncertainty," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 5474.
    17. Grzybowski, Lukasz & Hasbi, Maude & Liang, Julienne, 2018. "Transition from copper to fiber broadband: The role of connection speed and switching costs," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-10.
    18. Elizabeth Olmstead Teisberg, 1993. "Capital Investment Strategies under Uncertain Regulation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(4), pages 591-604, Winter.
    19. Robert McDonald & Daniel Siegel, 1986. "The Value of Waiting to Invest," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 707-727.
    20. John C. Harsanyi, 1967. "Games with Incomplete Information Played by "Bayesian" Players, I-III Part I. The Basic Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 159-182, November.
    21. Lander, Diane M. & Pinches, George E., 1998. "Challenges to the Practical Implementation of Modeling and Valuing Real Options," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(3, Part 2), pages 537-567.
    22. Jaunaux, Laure & Lebourges, Marc, 2015. "Economic replicability tests for next-generation access networks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 486-501.
    23. Tanguturi, Venkata Praveen & Harmantzis, Fotios C., 2006. "Migration to 3G wireless broadband internet and real options: The case of an operator in India," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 400-419, August.
    24. Crocioni, Pietro, 2011. "Net Neutrality in Europe: Desperately seeking a market failure," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-11, February.
    25. Lee, In & Shin, Yong Jae, 2018. "Fintech: Ecosystem, business models, investment decisions, and challenges," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 35-46.
    26. Gerli, Paolo & Van der Wee, Marlies & Verbrugge, Sofie & Whalley, Jason, 2018. "The involvement of utilities in the development of broadband infrastructure: A comparison of EU case studies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 726-743.
    27. Alleman, James, 0. "A new view of telecommunications economics," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-2), pages 87-92, February.
    28. Tahon, Mathieu & Lannoo, Bart & Ooteghem, Jan Van & Casier, Koen & Verbrugge, Sofie & Colle, Didier & Pickavet, Mario & Demeester, Piet, 2011. "Municipal support of wireless access network rollout: A game theoretic approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 883-894.
    29. Harmantzis, Fotios C. & Tanguturi, Venkata Praveen, 2007. "Investment decisions in the wireless industry applying real options," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 107-123, March.
    30. Stewart C. Myers, 1984. "Finance Theory and Financial Strategy," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 126-137, February.
    31. Dimitris Katsianis & Attila Gyürke & Rozália Konkoly & Dimitris Varoutas & Thomas Sphicopoulos, 2007. "A game theory modeling approach for 3G operators," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 71-90, October.
    32. Williams, Joseph T, 1993. "Equilibrium and Options on Real Assets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(4), pages 825-850.
    33. Thijssen, Jacco J.J., 2010. "Preemption in a real option game with a first mover advantage and player-specific uncertainty," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(6), pages 2448-2462, November.
    34. Charalampopoulos, George & Katsianis, Dimitris & Varoutas, Dimitris, 2011. "The option to expand to a next generation access network infrastructure and the role of regulation in a discrete time setting: A real options approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 895-906.
    35. Nina Czernich & Oliver Falck & Tobias Kretschmer & Ludger Woessmann, 2011. "Broadband Infrastructure and Economic Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 505-532, May.
    36. Nadiri, M. Ishaq & Nandi, Banani & Akoz, Kemal Kivanc, 2018. "Impact of modern communication infrastructure on productivity, production structure and factor demands of US industries: Impact revisited," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 433-451.
    37. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    38. Fernando Camacho & Flavio Menezes, 2009. "Access pricing and investment: a real options approach," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 107-126, October.
    39. Fourie, Helanya & de Bijl, Paul W.J., 2018. "Race to the top: Does competition in the DSL market matter for fibre penetration?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 778-793.
    40. Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg, 1994. "An Option Valuation Analysis of Investment Choices by a Regulated Firm," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(4), pages 535-548, April.
    41. McGahan, A. M., 1993. "The effect of incomplete information about demand on preemption," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 327-346, September.
    42. Koutroumpis, Pantelis, 2009. "The economic impact of broadband on growth: A simultaneous approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(9), pages 471-485, October.
    43. Robert S. Pindyck, 2005. "Pricing Capital Under Mandatory Unbundling and Facilities Sharing," NBER Working Papers 11225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    44. Siciliani, Paolo, 0. "Access regulation on NGA-A financial, market-led solution to bridge the gap between US and European diverging regulatory approaches," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5-6), pages 287-298, June.
    45. Michel Benaroch, 2018. "Real Options Models for Proactive Uncertainty-Reducing Mitigations and Applications in Cybersecurity Investment Decision Making," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 315-340, June.
    46. Franklin, Sergio Luis & Diallo, Madiagne, 2013. "Real options and cost-based access pricing: Model and methodology," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 321-333.
    47. Han T. J. Smit & L. A. Ankum, 1993. "A Real Options and Game-Theoretic Approach to," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), Fall.
    48. Grenadier, Steven R, 1996. "The Strategic Exercise of Options: Development Cascades and Overbuilding in Real Estate Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(5), pages 1653-1679, December.
    49. Adam Thierer, 2006. "Are “Dumb Pipe” Mandates Smart Public Policy? Vertical Integration, Net Neutrality, and the Network Layers Model," Springer Books, in: Thomas M. Lenard & Randolph J. May (ed.), Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services be Regulated, chapter 0, pages 73-108, Springer.
    50. Nalin Kulatilaka & Enrico C. Perotti, 1998. "Strategic Growth Options," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(8), pages 1021-1031, August.
    51. Reiss, Ariane, 1998. "Investment in Innovations and Competition: An Option Pricing Approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(3, Part 2), pages 635-650.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ferrandis, Jesús & Ramos, Sergio & Feijóo, Claudio, 2021. "An assessment of estimation models and investment gaps for the deployment of high-speed broadband networks in NUTS3 regions to meet the objectives of the European Gigabit Society," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. George Charalampopoulos & Dimitris Katsianis & Dimitris Varoutas, 2022. "Economic replicability tests: an “out-of-the-box” implementation," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 115-138, October.
    2. Franklin, Sergio Luis & Diallo, Madiagne, 2013. "Real options and cost-based access pricing: Model and methodology," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 321-333.
    3. Lander, Diane M. & Pinches, George E., 1998. "Challenges to the Practical Implementation of Modeling and Valuing Real Options," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(3, Part 2), pages 537-567.
    4. Smit, Han T.J. & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2006. "Real options and games: Competition, alliances and other applications of valuation and strategy," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 95-112.
    5. Bulan, Laarni & Mayer, Christopher & Somerville, C. Tsuriel, 2009. "Irreversible investment, real options, and competition: Evidence from real estate development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 237-251, May.
    6. Guthrie, Graeme, 2012. "Regulated prices and real options," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 650-663.
    7. Sergio Franklin, 2015. "Investment decisions in mobile telecommunications networks applying real options," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 226(1), pages 201-220, March.
    8. Chevalier-Roignant, Benoît & Flath, Christoph M. & Huchzermeier, Arnd & Trigeorgis, Lenos, 2011. "Strategic investment under uncertainty: A synthesis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 215(3), pages 639-650, December.
    9. Han T.J. Smit & Lenos Trigeorgis, 2006. "Real options and games: Competition, alliances and other applications of valuation and strategy," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 95-112.
    10. Marco Antonio Guimaraes Dias & Jose Paulo Teixeira, 2010. "Continuous-Time Option Games: Review of Models and Extensions," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 14(3-4), pages 219-254, September.
    11. Pawlina, G. & Kort, P.M., 2001. "Strategic Capital Budgeting : Asset Replacement Under Uncertainty," Discussion Paper 2001-4, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    12. Steven R. Grenadier, 2003. "An Equilibrium Analysis of Real Estate," NBER Working Papers 9475, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Azevedo, Alcino & Paxson, Dean, 2014. "Developing real option game models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(3), pages 909-920.
    14. Charalampopoulos, George & Katsianis, Dimitris & Varoutas, Dimitris, 2011. "The option to expand to a next generation access network infrastructure and the role of regulation in a discrete time setting: A real options approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 895-906.
    15. HOSONO Kaoru & TAKIZAWA Miho & YAMANOUCHI Kenta, 2017. "Competition, Uncertainty, and Misallocation," Discussion papers 17071, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    16. Li, Yong & James, Barclay & Madhavan, Ravi & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2006. "Real Options: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead," Working Papers 06-0114, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    17. Hans Haanappel & Han Smit, 2007. "Return distributions of strategic growth options," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 57-80, April.
    18. Tselekounis, Markos & Varoutas, Dimitris & Martakos, Drakoulis, 2014. "A CDS approach to induce facilities-based competition over NGA networks," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 311-331.
    19. Berg, Tobias & Mölls, Sascha H. & Willershausen, Timo, 2009. "(Real-)options, uncertainty and comparative statics: Are Black and Scholes mistaken?," Manuskripte aus den Instituten für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der Universität Kiel 645, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
    20. Sears, Joshua B., 2019. "A real options model of market entry: Endogenous uncertainty and exogenous uncertainty," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:44:y:2020:i:3:s030859612030032x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.