Cullen International’s new benchmark of twelve Americas countries shows that ten of the surveyed countries employed WACC to calculate regulated wholesale prices or to settle disputes between operators.

WACC refers to the rate of return on capital employed (ROCE) that is expected to be achieved by a given undertaking in order to satisfy its investors (i.e. shareholders and debt holders).

Regulators often use WACC when setting cost-oriented prices. In such cases, the WACC is how the regulator estimates what a standard efficient operator would expect as a return on its investment.

The new Cullen International benchmark addresses whether: 

• national telecoms regulators (NRAs) in the Americas use WACC when setting cost-oriented prices; 
• what the WACC is used for when setting prices, e.g. to set fixed or mobile termination rates (FTR, MTR); and
• how often NRAs review the WACC rates.

For more information and to access the Benchmark, please click on "Access the full content" – or on "Request Access" if you are not a Cullen International Americas Telecoms service subscriber.