Natural monopoly, two-sided markets, price differentiation: three essays on the regulation of telecommunications

The thesis focuses on the economics of the telecommunications industry and on its regulation. The first part is dedicated to the deployment of the fixed network of the optical fibre. The study of different regulation methods allows to compare the approaches in terms of the speed and efficiency of deployment as well as the consumers' welfare. We construct a technico-economic model of the fibre access network in France in order to compare the results of different regulation approaches in quantitative terms. The second part applies the theory of two-sided markets to the field of electronic communications. It deals with the issue of competition regulation on two-sided markets and shows in what way their treatment should be specific, based on theoretic results and case studies. A model of price discrimination on two-sided markets is proposed that reveals the factors determining favourable or unfavourable impact of discrimination. The third part studies the impact of the price differentiation depending on the call destination on the mobile communication market. A theoretic model is constructed and then calibrated based on the example of the French market in 2003. It is shown that the all-net reduction of the tariffs towards all the networks and by all the operators is more beneficial for consumers than the on-net reduction of the intra-network tariffs.