We are pleased to present to you the fourth edition of the International Telecommunication Union’s Trends in Telecommunication Reform. The theme of this year’s report is Effective Regulation.

Telecommunications became one of the leading engines of economic growth in the 1990s, fuelling activity and trade in all sectors, from manufacturing to the provision of financial services. Now, as the telecommunication sector evolves into a broader...

Chapter 1 described the continuing evolution and development of the telecommunications industry into the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, emphasizing the increased emphasis on access to ICT networks and services. A wave of...

Chapter 2 discussed why many countries around the globe have created regulatory agencies in recent years, as well as the reasons why governments choose to regulate the telecommunication marketplace. This Chapter will explore what options governments...

This Chapter considers the broad categories of functions that regulatory authorities perform in most jurisdictions. These categories include rulemaking, regulatory enforcement and dispute resolution functions. The Chapter concludes with a brief...

The transformation of telecommunication markets and technologies in recent years has resulted in numerous changes in the types of functions performed by regulatory authorities and in the way those functions are performed. In some cases, regulators’...

In the context of telecommunication regulation, the term transparency refers to the openness of the process of exercising regulatory power. Fairness refers to the outcome of that process. Transparency is, in effect, a way of ensuring fairness.

None of the regulatory functions and practices necessary to establish and maintain an effective regulatory authority can be performed or put into place without sufficient human resources. Obtaining, training, and utilizing a qualified staff is...

The creation of separate regulatory agencies in the communications sector has increasingly raised the question of how those agencies are to be funded. This is not as straightforward a question as it first may seem, because the very reasons why...

Sector reform has become the norm for ITU Member States, a majority of which have at least initiated a sector reform programme, if not fully embarked on the path of sector reform. The momentum of the global sector reform movement that crystallized...