Is Everything Regulated? – The Importance of the Demand-Side for Growth-Oriented Telecommunication Policy

German telecommunications policy has achieved a great deal over the last 15 years, especially through demand-side de- and re-regulation. Today’s telecommunication sector is characterised by plunging prices, more choice for consumers, falling market concentration, innovative services and new networks. Supply-oriented policy has crucially contributed to today’s situation whereby a large percentage of German households have a broadband internet connection. However, while the availability of fast internet connections continues to rise, trends in its use are less spectacular. To ensure that the internet can continue to provide further growth impulses for our economy, telecommunications policy should be more strongly oriented towards the demand-side in the future and should seek to remove growth constraints on technologies like cloud computing, e-health and e-learning.