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No Per Lindvall: Customers benefit from a free market

Broadband Digital infrastructure Digitization

I am surprised to read Per Lindvall's analysis in SvD Näringsliv in which he considers the telecom market to be a socio-economic failure. How can he seriously believe that an infrastructure monopoly would be preferable for Swedish consumers? Are there any relevant examples of when such a monopoly has really worked and benefited the consumer to a greater extent than a free and competitive market? I do not think so.

According to PTS, 99 percent of all households and businesses in Sweden had access to broadband via 4G in October 2013. 57 percent of all households and businesses in Sweden had access to broadband of at least 100 Mbit/s at the same time. Many operators now offer free calls and text messages in their subscriptions. In addition, the price of broadband subscriptions per Mbit/s in Sweden is among the very lowest in the OECD. I think this, if nothing else, is a strong indication that competition is working and that consumers and society are benefiting from the market-driven expansion of the electronic infrastructure in Sweden.

I am also very doubtful that we would have the rate of expansion of electronic infrastructure that we have today if it were up to the state to build a robust network. Competition in the market is very much driving this aggressive expansion. Operators are currently investing up to SEK 10 billion a year in electronic infrastructure, investments made in response to clear consumer demand. A significant part of today's expansion and investments would never have been made, and certainly not at this rapid pace, if the infrastructure had been monopolized and thus not as clearly demand-driven.

The fact that we also have parallel networks to some extent creates redundancy, which provides increased robustness - which is a prerequisite for us to be able to take advantage of all the opportunities for societal development that the ongoing digitization brings.

The role of the state and the public sector should be to provide the conditions for the market to build the infrastructure.

In areas where the market is not sufficient, state aid money may be relevant, but as I have said before, public money should not be spent on offering something that an open and functioning market already provides.