Case Studies

Market Structure

Vertical Integration in Cable

The FCC commissioned a 2007 study of vertical integration among cable TV operators. Comcast asked Arlington Economics to evaluate this paper, filing a formal analysis in the FCC Docket.

The XM-Sirius Merger

The satellite radio companies announced their merger in February 2007, asking Arlington Economics to prepare an economic analysis for regulators evaluating the combination.

Auction Design

In launching the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft in 1997, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory hired AE LLC principal David Porter to design a mechanism to efficient share the mission’s resources among the diverse experiments being conducted.

Virginia’s NOx Allowance Auction

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality contracted with Arlington Economics LLC principals David Porter and Vernon Smith, in 2004, to create a reliable mechanism for auctioning NOx emission permits.

Auction Bidding Strategy

The FCC’S AWS Auction

When Cox Communications decided to participate in the 2006 Advanced Wireless Services license auction, they asked AE LLC principals Thomas Hazlett and David Porter to help the firm create a bidding strategy.

Public Policy

Universal Service Study

In 2006, the Seniors Coalition contracted with AE LLC principal Thomas Hazlett to write a White Paper showing exactly how large universal service telephone subsidies were, and what telephone carriers they were going to. The paper was the subject of an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, and the subject of lengthy news reports in the Chicago Tribune and many other papers.

Cable TV Franchising

In 2006, Verizon Communications faced franchise barriers in Montgomery County, Maryland, where it wished to offer cable TV service over its newly built FiOS network. It retained Arlington Economics principal Thomas Hazlett, who had previously served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in several cable franchise suits (including Preferred Communications v. City of Los Angeles, decided 9-0 for the plaintiffs by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986), to evaluate the competitive issues for the federal district court.