The competition cargo-cult
Rui linked to an article about excessive EU regulation on roaming charges and its impact on competition.
Its a very interesting article, highly recommended, but the opposite side of this coin is not as clear cut as it seems.
Yes, excessive regulation does prevent competition, and can cause more harm than good.
But expecting that unregulated competition between providers will benefit customers in the long run is not right either.
Competition will benefit consumers in the short run, while telcos really work for market share. But as soon as dominance is achieved, corporate greed will always win. Its part human nature, part investor pressure.
So, the question is the level of regulation and not its presence or absence. I particularly feel that anti-cartel regulation is even more important than controlling the pricing.
Just my â¬0.01.