Today‘s communications landscape is vastly different from the environment in which we developed the first Telecommunications Regulation Handbook ten years ago.
- Competitive and open communications markets have created opportunities in countries that previously lagged behind.
- Competitively priced and technologically varied service offerings have allowed businesses to compete and thrive globally.
Technology is changing telecommunications markets by merging, converging and re-organizing them from the inside-out. The future of telecommunications is being written by SMS and Internet Protocol, as well as by traditional packet-switching, and implemented in applications that tie platforms together, creating services we could not have predicted but on which we have come to depend.
Communications technologies alone, however, will not drive the innovation that the developing world needs. The World Bank Group supports the Telecommunications Regulation Handbook because this essential guide can assist policymakers in evaluating policy options and deciding on appropriate regulations. Their efforts can support thriving economies by allowing individuals to exercise their own ingenuity to lift themselves and their countries out of poverty. As a result of the rapid rate of technological development, business innovation and changes in social attitudes continue to push communications in unpredictable, innovative directions. Well-trained, informed and independent individuals in ministries, regulatory agencies, companies and universities play a critical role in shaping the future of the communications landscape, thereby creating more opportunities for open collaboration, innovation and economic growth.
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About the Telecommunications Regulation Handbook
Foreword
Table of contents
Chapter 1 - The big picture: Introduction to telecommunications regulation
Chapter 2 - A level playing field: regulating for effective competition
Chapter 3 - Growing the market: licensing and authorizing services
Chapter 4 - Going mobile: managing the spectrum
Chapter 5 - From capacity to connectivity: network access and interconnection
Chapter 6 - From availability to use: universal access and service
Chapter 7 - A digital future: regulatory challenges in a brave new world
Appendix A - World Trade Organization reference paper on basic telecommunications
Glossary
Endnotes
References