To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators

This paper assesses the impact of mobile network sharing in Europe during the 2000-2019 period, looking at 140 mobile operators in 29 countries. We find that - consistent with economic theory - network sharing generated significant benefits for operators and consumers, including lower prices and imp...

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Main Authors: Koutroumpis, P, Castells, P, Bahia, K
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023
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author Koutroumpis, P
Castells, P
Bahia, K
author_facet Koutroumpis, P
Castells, P
Bahia, K
author_sort Koutroumpis, P
collection OXFORD
description This paper assesses the impact of mobile network sharing in Europe during the 2000-2019 period, looking at 140 mobile operators in 29 countries. We find that - consistent with economic theory - network sharing generated significant benefits for operators and consumers, including lower prices and improved network coverage and quality. This was driven by cost reductions, higher returns on investment and increased competition. These effects materialized heterogeneously, with the impact of network sharing depending on the type of sharing, the technology cycle in which it is entered into as well as the market position and size of the operators entering the agreement. This has important implications going forward as it shows that network sharing can play a vital role in the deployment of new 5G networks and that the technological and market specificity of each type of sharing agreement can significantly affect its outcomes.
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spelling oxford-uuid:8f24a0ae-1625-4b47-abc8-3b50e545e1532023-11-29T14:51:13ZTo share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operatorsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:8f24a0ae-1625-4b47-abc8-3b50e545e153EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2023Koutroumpis, PCastells, PBahia, KThis paper assesses the impact of mobile network sharing in Europe during the 2000-2019 period, looking at 140 mobile operators in 29 countries. We find that - consistent with economic theory - network sharing generated significant benefits for operators and consumers, including lower prices and improved network coverage and quality. This was driven by cost reductions, higher returns on investment and increased competition. These effects materialized heterogeneously, with the impact of network sharing depending on the type of sharing, the technology cycle in which it is entered into as well as the market position and size of the operators entering the agreement. This has important implications going forward as it shows that network sharing can play a vital role in the deployment of new 5G networks and that the technological and market specificity of each type of sharing agreement can significantly affect its outcomes.
spellingShingle Koutroumpis, P
Castells, P
Bahia, K
To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title_full To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title_fullStr To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title_full_unstemmed To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title_short To share or not to share? The impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
title_sort to share or not to share the impact of mobile network sharing for consumers and operators
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AT castellsp toshareornottosharetheimpactofmobilenetworksharingforconsumersandoperators
AT bahiak toshareornottosharetheimpactofmobilenetworksharingforconsumersandoperators