Measuring the Benefits of Mobile Number Portability

Sean Lyons

Economic Papers from Trinity College Dublin, Economics Department

Abstract: Increasing numbers of countries require mobile telephone networks to offer mobile number portability (MNP). MNP allows customers who wish to switch mobile operator to keep their mobile numbers, avoiding the costs of switching to new numbers. Ex ante assessments suggest that MNP should reduce switching costs and strengthen competition. In this paper, we test MNP's impact on market outcomes using international time-series cross-section data. We find that MNP significantly increases average mobile telephony retail prices and churn (a proxy for switching).

JEL-codes: L51 L96 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2006-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-mic and nep-net
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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