The regulation of retail bundles

March 2010 | 19 pages | ID: R8C11D699AFEN
Ovum

Abstracts

An increasing number of consumers now choose to take discounted bundles from their providers. For regulators, this trend makes regulatory policies regarding the replicability of bundles a relevant issue when analyzing markets and imposing obligations on dominant operators. We have identified regulatory intervention in seven counties and present the findings here.

Contents

Executive summary
In a nutshell
Ovum view
Key messages
Overview
Types of bundle
When bundling might have an anti-competitive effect
Dominance in one of the service markets as a prerequisite of possible anti-competitive behavior
Predatory pricing
Leveraging of market power
A problem of replicability
The use of margin-squeeze tests
Bundling within the EU framework
Universal Service Directive
Germany
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
Greece
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
Ireland
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Net revenue test
  Specific bundling regulation
Japan
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
The Netherlands
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
South Korea
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
Spain
  Remedies imposed in the retail market
  Ex-ante price tests
  Specific bundling regulation
Analysis of competition
Analysis of joint economic replicability
Analysis of competition in the bundles
Analysis of bundling in the absence of competition

List Of Tables

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The regulatory status of retail bundling
Table 2: Price-cap regulation in Japan
Table 3: Services and SMP operators under retail regulation

List Of Figures

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The current framework to assess whether a bundle is unreasonable
Figure 2: The CMT’s decision-making process when analyzing bundled offers