A Price Concentration Study on European Mobile Telecom Markets: Limitations and Insights

Abstract

Price concentration studies investigate the relationship between market concentration and price levels. They are increasingly used in the mobile telecom industry. This paper provides a detailed account of the limitations of such studies. In addition, it proposes a specific approach in order to account for quality differences across countries, which are likely important when explaining price differences. When applying our approach to European mobile telecom markets from 2003 to 2012, we find that there is no positive relationship between concentration and prices and some indications that the relationship may be negative.

Keywords: Price concentration study, mobile, wireless, merger control, efficiencies