The new telecommunications in the Netherlands: Strategy, policy and regulation

This paper investigates the policy environment that will be needed to achieve the Dutch government's goal of acquiring a leading position in Europe in the development of the electronic superhighways. The paper summarizes the results of a study commissioned by the Rathenau Institute, which provides discussion papers for the Dutch parliament. The key findings are that companies in the telecommunications, broadcasting, computing and software, and information-producing sectors are competing for three types of control. These relate to access to networks, access to the customer and access to market information. The Dutch government needs to give more attention to policy and regulatory initiatives to address these developments. For example, the Dutch government could take the lead in Europe by establishing an integrated regulatory institution that deals with information 'carriage' and 'content' issues. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd