Liberalisation of telecommunications and innovation dynamics in Denmark

The paper examines how the liberalisation of the Danish telecom market has affected innovation activities. The paper defines the term telecom market as the market for telecom services. The market for telecom equipment is not included here, although interfaces between the operators and the equipment manufacturers are part of the examination. In a study of the competition between individual operators on a national market and the role of innovations in this context, it is most relevant to reserve the innovation notion to the first operator(s) introducing the new technologies or methods. It does not have to be new in an international context. The innovative operator is the one which is the first to introduce a new product or process on the national market (e.g., the first to implement ADSL) even if ADSL technology has not been developed in the country in question. In the present paper, there is focus on both issues, that is the general innovativeness on the Danish market and on the role of innovations in relation to competition on the Danish market.