Competition and Regulatory Issues in Network Industries: Case Study Lessons for Japanese Telecoms and Postal Sectors

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タイトル，著者，概要	本文（PDF)
"Competition and Regulatory Issues in Network Industries: Case Study Lessons for Japanese Telecoms and Postal Sectors" (2006年3月) 　Shanker A. Singham(Chairman, International Roudtable for Trade & Competition Policy, Inc.) 概要　Postal privatization in Japan offers great opportunities to deliver consumer benefits and innovation to Japanese citizens. Whether those benefits will be delivered or not will depend on how pro-competitive the regulatory structure will be that underpins the privatization process. The Competition Agency, JFTC, plays a crucial role in advocating pro-competitive reforms in this area. Many of these pro-competitive reforms have also been delivered in the telecoms sector, and it is thus important to study this sector for useful lessons which can be applied in the postal context. The paper reviews the prospects for pro-competitive postal privatization, and applies the latest learning on the mechanics of privatization. The paper also notes that postal privatization does not take place in a vacuum, and sits within the overall context of a changed global communications economy. The cost reductions brought about by the printing press amounted to a fraction of the cost reductions brought about by the microprocessor (a factor of 1,000 to 10 million). This means that the current revolution is every bit as powerful as the renaissance and industrial revolution before it. Indeed Professor Lawrence Summers, the president of the Harvard University,noted that we were in the third major revolution of the last thousand years, at the Davos World Economic Forum event in 2006. The paper examines the interface between regulatory systems in the telecoms and postal sectors, and competition issues. In particular the paper focuses on the upcoming postal privatization and how the Japanese ministries involved can ensure that the privatization benefits consumers and leads to consumer welfare gains in the economic sense. In the context of both telecoms and postal, three areas that predominate are: (i) Reserved Sector. How big should the reserved sector be? What impact does the size of the reserved sector have on competition in the unreserved areas? (ii) Cross-Subsidization. The paper considers whether cross-subsidization is always harmful, or whether a more consumer welfare standard needs to be adopted. If so, how is the issue affected by legacy government ownership and legacy privileges. The paper evaluates and makes recommendations regarding upcoming postal privatization.	CPDP 20-E(PDF:2,114KB)

タイトル，著者，概要

本文
（PDF)

"Competition and Regulatory Issues in Network Industries: Case Study Lessons for Japanese Telecoms and Postal Sectors" (2006年3月)
　Shanker A. Singham(Chairman, International Roudtable for Trade & Competition Policy, Inc.)
概要
　Postal privatization in Japan offers great opportunities to deliver consumer benefits and innovation to Japanese citizens. Whether those benefits will be delivered or not will depend on how pro-competitive the regulatory structure will be that underpins the privatization process. The Competition Agency, JFTC, plays a crucial role in advocating pro-competitive reforms in this area. Many of these pro-competitive reforms have also been delivered in the telecoms sector, and it is thus important to study this sector for useful lessons which can be applied in the postal context.
The paper reviews the prospects for pro-competitive postal privatization, and applies the latest learning on the mechanics of privatization. The paper also notes that postal privatization does not take place in a vacuum, and sits within the overall context of a changed global communications economy. The cost reductions brought about by the printing press amounted to a fraction of the cost reductions brought about by the microprocessor (a factor of 1,000 to 10 million). This means that the current revolution is every bit as powerful as the renaissance and industrial revolution before it. Indeed Professor Lawrence Summers, the president of the Harvard University,noted that we were in the third major revolution of the last thousand years, at the Davos World Economic Forum event in 2006.
The paper examines the interface between regulatory systems in the telecoms and postal sectors, and competition issues. In particular the paper focuses on the upcoming postal privatization and how the Japanese ministries involved can ensure that the privatization benefits consumers and leads to consumer welfare gains in the economic sense. In the context of both telecoms and postal, three areas that predominate are:
(i) Reserved Sector. How big should the reserved sector be? What impact does the size of the reserved sector have on competition in the unreserved areas?
(ii) Cross-Subsidization. The paper considers whether cross-subsidization is always harmful, or whether a more consumer welfare standard needs to be adopted. If so, how is the issue affected by legacy government ownership and legacy privileges.
The paper evaluates and makes recommendations regarding upcoming postal privatization.

CPDP
20-E(PDF:2,114KB)