The diffusion of mobile telecommunications services in the European Union

We study the technological and regulatory determinants of the diffusion of mobile telecommunications services in the European Union, using a logistic model of diffusion. We find that the transition from the analogue to the di gital technology during the early 1990s, and the corresponding increase in spectrum capacity, had a major impact on the diffusion of mobile telecommun ications. Countries which granted first licenses at later points in time sh ow a significant but slow catching-up effect, implying international conver gence only by around 2006. The impact of introducing competition has also b een significant, during both the analogue and the digital period, though th e effect was smaller than the technology effect. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: L1; L86; O3.