Abstract:
The radical transformations that have been reshaping the world of telecommunications are uniquely decentralized and, yet, they increasingly provide the lifeblood of our new societies. In this paper we study the internet as a critical infrastructure whose efficiency depends upon the proper and efficient functioning of its market structure. Our objective is not to propose the role governments should play. It is not to suggest regulation. It is exclusively to highlight the vulnerability of the economy to the lack of competition and associated problems due to inefficient market structures. The analysis in this paper is buttressed by the unique in-depth empirical research one of the authors has already carried out on internet in South America, covering many of its national idiosyncrasies, and its various forms of governance. South America is particularly interesting in view of the different ways in which networks came to interconnect with one another and the diversity of governance one finds at points of internet traffic exchange. This subject will form the basis for further work.
