In the last ten years, the world of telecommunications has changed drastically. Major advances in technology have resulted in greater harmonisation, more sophisticated networks and reductions in equipment costs. These in turn led to the development of more sophisticated services which could benefit society as a whole and of less capital-intensive options to assist countries with lower levels of development. At the same time, there has been a trend towards greater reliance on market forces rather than on government monopoly to spur the telecommunications sector to take advantage of these developments. This trend gained in momentum and, as more and more governments recognised the important benefits to society that liberalisation could deliver, culminated in the General Agreement on Trade Services, with its Basic Accord on Telecommunications Services, endorsed by 69 countries.