Regulation is an important institutional influence in layer 2, the network operation layer. Regulation in layer 2 has effects throughout the new ICT ecosystem. Inchapter 4, for example, it was shown that the network operators in layer 2 accounted for the bulk of investment in the ecosystem. The networked element providers in layer 1 are symbiotic beneficiaries of the investments made in layer 2. Content and applications providers in layer 3 utilise the networks that are created through layer 2 investments. Telecoms regulation in layer 2, therefore, has systemic repercussions. In this chapter, and in appendix 2, a closer look is taken at the dominant approach to telecoms regulation in the new ICT ecosystem. In the final part of the chapter the possible impact of evolutionary changes in the ecosystem on the framework of regulation is considered.

Europe in the global new ICT ecosystem

In 2007, The Economist, in a special report on European business, concluded that ‘Europe has 29 per cent of the world's leading 2,000 or so companies, broadly in line with its 30 per cent share of world GDP. It punches its weight in most global industries except IT where America is leaps ahead.’ Exhibit 5.1 provides a more detailed picture of Europe's position in the global new ICT ecosystem. This exhibit is based on the Financial Times Top 500 Companies (according to market capitalisation). The ICT companies were extracted from the Top 500 and then distributed into the three layers of the ICT ecosystem.