Presents a compilation of information from a worldwide pool of experts on their practical experiences in telecommunications sector reform. This study compiles a wealth of information from a worldwide pool of experts on their practical experiences in telecommunications sector reform. It provides an up-to-date account of approaches to the major policy and structural issues and describes developments in Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe. The study also examines issues related to investment, regulation, and implementation. While each of the eight parts centers on a particular aspect of telecommunications sector reform, the study highlights several recurring themes and looks at a number of country experiences from the perspective of policymakers, regulators, investors, operators, the international development community, and other industry specialists. This volume provides valuable information on how to implement telecommunications reforms, offers insights into the effectiveness of these reforms, and identifies critical areas in which further discussion of related policy and implementation issues in this increasingly important economic sector.

We investigate the determinants of regulatory reforms between 1990 and 1998 in 50 developing countries. We find that the reforms are attributable to differences in the configurations of interest groups and in the political structure - in particular, the decision-making mechanisms and the ideology of the legislature. Regulatory reforms are more likely in countries with strong pro-reform interest groups (a larger financial sector and a greater proportion of urban consumers) and less likely in countries where incumbent operators have already made large investments and hence have strong incentives to oppose the reforms. Democracy facilitates the actions of interest groups.

This book attempts to draw lessons from the experiences of developed as well as developing countries in carrying out telecommunications reform. Contributors come from academia, as well as from stakeholders in telecommunications policy in a dozen countries, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region. Globally, the telecommunications industry is undergoing major changes: technological advances in the form of a vast number of new digitised services, ownership shifts as state-owned carriers in many countries become fully or partly privatized, and a general transition from monopolistic to more competitive market environments. The economic and regulatory experiences derived from these changes are explored and analyzed using the USA, the UK, Australia and Singapore to represent developed and newly industrialized countries, and China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam as examples of developing countries. The conclusions outlined in this timely volume hold important lessons for these as well as for other countries.

Regulating Development examines the impact that regulation good or bad can have on the development of poorer societies. It opens with a succinct review of critical issues, including the implications of the spread of intellectual property rights legislation and the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The volume examines the regulatory experiences of three important developing economies: Brazil, Ghana and South Africa. Key regulatory themes are analysed, most notably capital markets and corporate governance regulation, the regulation of the telecommunications sector and the use of regulatory reforms to promote the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Within each chapter policy lessons are drawn, the relevance of which extend well beyond national or even regional boundaries. The principal aim of the book is to show the extent to which regulation is moving increasingly to centre stage as a driver of development in Africa and Latin America. The book also demonstrates how thoughtful, well-planned regulation can make a real contribution to the emergence of supply-side competitiveness. This book will be invaluable reading for academics, researchers and students with an interest in economics and development studies, as well as for regulators and policymakers in developing countries.

World Bank Technical Paper No. 345. This report examines specific policies for achieving sustainable development of the mining industry in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The report highlights the importance of the mining sector to national economies of the region and discusses World Bank assistance in formulating policy. Also available in Spanish: (ISBN 0-8213-3942-7) Stock no. 13942.

This study investigates regulatory reforms in the telecommunications sector of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries. It explores telecommunications innovations in three developing economies (Morocco, Jordan and Egypt), with a focus on regional and European trends in telecommunications policies. Common knowledge suggests that the European Union and its member states are the main influential regulatory power in the MENA region. However, the empirical analysis of selected telecommunications regulations: universal service obligation (USO) and spectrum management, reveals that reforms are not always determined by European countries but may also originate from other developing countries, such as Peru and Chile. This finding attests to the rise of regulatory influence from the Global South, which challenges traditional transfers of regulations originating from more industrially advanced countries.