This dissertation, "Rethinking Access Regulation From the Transaction Cost Economics Perspectives: a Comparative Analysis of the Legal and Policy Developments for First and Next Generation Access Networks in the US, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong" by Man-ho, Au,, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: The rollout of the next generation access (NGA) networks as part of the future communications infrastructure involves substantial capital investment and risk. The design and enforcement of access regulation for the NGA networks have significant impact on the attainment of diverse policy goals concerning investment, innovation, competition and infrastructure openness. This study compares and analyses the legal and policy developments in the US, the UK, Australia and Hong Kong for access regulation in the transition from the first generation access (FGA) to the NGA network environment, with a theoretical framework based on transaction cost economics (TCE). On the basis of doctrinal and archival researches, this study investigates four research questions. First, what are the similarities and differences between the regulatory models adopted by the four jurisdictions for access regulation in the FGA and the NGA network environments? Second, how did transaction costs arise in these four regulatory models and affect the implementation of access regulation on their respective FGA networks? Third, how do these four jurisdictions reform access regulation for the NGA network environment in response to the transaction cost problems encountered in the FGA network environment? Fourth, how does TCE contribut