HOW MANY CELLULAR LICENSES SHOULD THERE BE

Regulators are awarding an increasing number of cellular telephony lic ences in each market. This Comment uses the experience of several Euro pean countries to assess how far that trend should continue, from the points of view of the regulators and the established operators. It con cludes that, as part of a wider regulatory mix, regulators can use any number of licences to achieve their objectives; and that consequently there are actions that established operators can take to satisfy regu lators with fewer licences, and so minimize in a constructive way the number of players in their markets.