y inter- ventions can be more difficult to predict in network industries. Seemingly limited access mandates can impact the performance of individual networks in significant ways, changing the investment and management decisions of the network provider. As a consequence, even limited access mandates can change customer and com- petitor decisions and alter the pattern of network interconnections in unexpected ways. Our analysis suggests that the impact of access mandates is greatest when reg- ulators impose requirements on platform access and unbundled access. Despite the rhetorical appeal of network neutrality, the far-reaching effects of platform access on economic efficiency make regulatory forbearance critical. Public policy goals in communications should focus on the benefits to end users rather than on access mandates. The benefits received by end users require efficient network boundaries and interconnections and market incentives for investment and innovation. End users benefit from network diversity as well as economies of scale. Firms that offer network services and providers of content and applications have incentives to choose efficient access transactions. Economic and legal studies benefit by opening the black box of networks. Advances in network theory offer a rich set of tools for examining the determi- nants of network boundaries and interconnections. Our analysis highlights how market transactions for access influence network architecture and performance. We emphasize that market transactions for network services reflect the tradeoffs between governance of networks and interconnection between networks. Our dis- cussion demonstrates the critical role played by networks in communications. Bibliography Abel, Jaison 2002. "Entry into regulated monopoly markets: The development of a compet- itive fringe in the local telephone industry," Journal of Law and Economics 45: 289-316. Abiru, Masahiro 1988. "Vertical integration, variable proportions and successive oligopolies," Journal of Industrial Economics