This paper develops various empirical approaches to evaluate the effects of the setting of download-speed standards on the always-on Internet services market in Colombia. Using information about all the offers available to be chosen by potential Internet subscribers in every municipality of Colombia for the period 2006-2012, this study estimates, discriminating by segment of demand, the modified logistic diffusion model and the strategic interaction model so as to identify the impact of the setting of minimum quality standards on the Internet services market expansion and on providers’ strategic decisions. The findings show, on one hand, that the regulatory decision implemented in Colombia both in 2008 and 2010 shifts the diffusion function forwards and accelerates the growth of the diffusion process at the municipality-level. On the other hand, as to the quality offer decision the effects of the standards depend on the segment under analysis. While there is strategic substitution on quality offer decisions for business service providers, residential providers tend to cluster their quality decisions around the minimum quality standards.
