Tim Miller chaired a round table on regulation and spectrum policy at TMT World

At the TMT World Congress, organised by TMT Finance, Tim Miller led a discussion among operators, lawyers, and regulatory experts on the ways in which regulation is currently impacting on the operations and investments of mobile operators.  The panel comprised representatives from four major operators, and they discussed how lessons learnt from European regulation have not been applied in developing markets; how there is a tendency in regulators to see increased numbers of competitors as a key goal while in fact this may lead to higher prices and decreased efficiency; and how investment is not only driven by the regulation in place, but also by regulatory certainty.
The round table concluded that consolidation is an important part of ensuring that markets are operating efficiently, and that regulators could expect that  mergers and acquisitions would result in a benefit to consumers – meaning that the current aversion to such transactions should be reconsidered.