Does handset bundling affect innovation?

Does handset bundling affect innovation?

April 13, 2015

The Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority has commissioned Copenhagen Economics to assess the impact of bundling mobile handsets and subscriptions on innovation, e.g. diffusion of new technologies such as 3G. In our study, we take into account both economic theory and practical experience and strike a balance between them.

 

We find that there are empirical indications that handset bundling promotes diffusion of technology, but due to limited data availability we do not draw strong conclusions. We also conclude that economic theory does not give a general answer, since the relation between the market structure and innovation depends on the characteristics of the industry in question.

 

Read the Post and Telecommunication Authority’s presentation of our study here

 

Read the full report here

 

For further information, please contact Henrik Ballebye Okholm or Simen Karlsen