Telecom reform: progress and prospects

The dominant activity in telecom reform is now shifting from policy development to implementation. This is a more difficult task that depends heavily on competent, independent regulation in both developed and developing countries. A speed up in the remaining steps to complete full institutional restructuring is needed, including clarification of the roles for national and regional regulation and for international governance. New national regulators must rapidly establish transparent participatory processes and decision criteria to minimise uncertainty and enhance credibility. Experience to date indicates that competition in reality may be a more limited instrument of policy than it has been in theory, and the goal of a global universal service will remain elusive unless given a higher priority in policy and practice. Telecom reform is leading to increasing integration of telecom with other sectors of the economy, and telecom policy with broader economic and social policy. Telecom networks are providing the foundation of information infrastructures, which in turn are rapidly becoming an indispensable component of the 21st century knowledge infrastructures. For the future, telecom policy and regulation must facilitate knowledge network development in new knowledge-based economies and societies. This raises a question of whether telecom regulation should assume a more proactive role in facilitating new network service applications, especially in the public sector.