Regulation of competition and access of mobile virtual network operators

Mobile termination rate, degree of asymmetry, and degree of substitutability are the elements which mostly characterise the mobile telecommunication market complexity. However, if mobile termination rate is considered as a primary item to be examined and regulated, the degrees of asymmetry and substitutability which characterise and define the structural aspects of the market are often not considered as strategic variable for the market competition. In this paper, a model has been defined to analyse the strategic consequences of the regulatory interventions on modalities about the adoption of mobile termination rates. The analysis of the results obtained by the model, based on numerical simulations, has been focused on retail price strategies, market shares erosion, and profit allotment of real and virtual mobile operators under variations of economic and structural characteristics, in the attempt of providing suggestions for decision, strategic and regulatory process.