The different role of mandatory access in German regulation of railroads and telecommunications

Abstract

Network services can be provided efficiently in competitive markets, if nondiscriminatory access to the complementary infrastructure capacities is guaranteed. The sector-symmetric application of the disaggregated regulatory approach to railways and telecommunications reveals the different role of mandatory access. Whereas in telecommunications only the local loop may create a remaining regulatory problem, mandatory access has to be guaranteed with respect to the railway infrastructure as a whole. In spite of the large phasing-out potentials of sector-specific regulation in telecommunications, this sector is still under the burden of overregulation. In contrast, in the railway sector mandatory access has been introduced only recently. --