Christian Koenig, Bernhard von Wendland

European Networks Law & Regulation Quarterly, Volume 3 (2015), Issue 3, Page 149 - 150

Christian Koenig

European Networks Law & Regulation Quarterly, Volume 3 (2015), Issue 2, Page 117 - 121

Christian Koenig, Franziska Schramm

European Networks Law & Regulation Quarterly, Volume 2 (2014), Issue 3, Page 220 - 231

Even infrastructure providers unaware that they qualify for access price regulation wake up one day and have to accept that their monopolistic bottlenecks cannot be remedied adequately by virtue of the concept of ‘essential facilities’ under general competition law. The so-called ‘three criteria test’ that defines the requirements for regulatory intervention and is applied by the European Commission in the telecommunications sector appears to be relevant for airportsaswell. The first criterionis thepresence ofhighandnon-transitory entrybarriers,whether of structural, legal or regulatory nature. Indeed, the relevant markets of airport infrastructure provision are exposed to these high and non-transitory entry barriers, in particular legal or regulatory hurdles. The second criterion admits only those markets which structurally do not tend towards effective competition within the relevant time horizon. The third criterion requires that the application of competition law alone would not adequately address the market failures concerned. Given the fulfillment of all three criteria of this test, it is not surprising that the regulation of airport charges was finally “kicked off” and – unlike what happened in other network industries before – not addressed in a national context but rather initiated by the Directive 2009/12/EC of 11 March 2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Christian Koenig, Martin Busch

European Networks Law & Regulation Quarterly, Volume 1 (2013), Issue 1, Page 39 - 47

Telecommunication by satellites is the most important commercial utilisation of outer space. In order to operate a satellite system, access to radio frequencies and access to the geostationary-satellite orbit positions are necessary, which both constitute scarce natural resources. Due to the transborder scope of satellite services and the importance of rational and efficient use of these natural resources, an international regulatory framework regarding the usage of orbit positions and frequencies by satellites has been established within the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This article investigates the ITU allotment procedures and their implications for national (German) radio spectrum regulation. It thus shows how national frequency assignment procedures have to correspond with the international allotment framework, as national administrations merely assign ITU derived (allotted) usage rights to commercial applicants. However, national authorisations provide an exclusive effect for assigned usage rights in a strict regulatory sense, but not as property rights.