Telecommunications Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region


Book Description

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.




Getting a Dial Tone


Book Description

Analyses the telecom reform process in Malaysia and the Philippines. Looks at the institutions and actors that were the driving force behind these changes, and examines state capacity, market reform, and rent-seeking in the two countries.




Trade in Services in the Asia-Pacific Region


Book Description

In recent years the tremendous growth of the service sector—including international trade in services—has outstripped that of manufacturing in many industrialized nations. As the importance of services has grown, economists have begun to focus on policy issues raised by them and have tried to understand what, if any, differences there are between production and delivery of goods and services. This volume is the first book-length attempt to analyze trade in services in the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors provide overviews of basic issues involved in studying the service sector; investigate the impact of increasing trade in services on the economies of Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong; present detailed analyses of specific service sectors (telecommunications, financial services, international tourism, and accounting); and extend our understanding of trade in services beyond the usual concept (measured in balance of payment statistics) to include indirect services and services undertaken abroad by subsidiaries and affiliates.




Implementing Reforms in the Telecommunications Sector


Book Description

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.




China's Telecommunications Reforms


Book Description

In the early 1990s, China started to reform its telecommunications regime by removing barriers to foreign and private investment and encouraging competition. This text applies the "Public Choice Plus" theory (developed in the study of economics) to the analysis of the policymaking process of China's telecommunications reforms. Guan is a senior fellow at the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy at the U. of Toronto.




Trade and Poverty Reduction in the Asia-Pacific Region


Book Description

This book explores the complex relationship between international trade and poverty reduction through a combination of research papers and contemporary case studies. Written mainly by developing-country authors in consultation with local businesses and communities, the case studies contribute to our understanding of the ways in which low-income communities are dealing with trade as a practical challenge, especially in the Asia-Pacific region where approximately two-thirds of the world's poor live. While making it clear that there is no 'one size fits all' formula, the research and stories highlight a number of necessary preconditions, such as political commitment and cooperation at all levels, if trade is to successfully reduce poverty. Openness to trade, serious commitment to domestic reform, trade-related capacity building, a robust and responsible private sector and access to the markets of developed countries are all identified as powerful tools for building trade-related sustainable development.




ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia


Book Description

This book examines how theoretically optimal concepts actually get implemented in the hard terrain of emerging Asia. It gleans lessons from five Asian countries \2014 Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka \2014 based on their experiences with expanding ICT connectivity. It reports the findings of a cutting-edge 3000+ sample demand-side survey of telephone use at the "bottom of the pyramid" in India and Sri Lanka. It considers the problem of expanding connectivity from different angles: that of the user, the operator, the policymaker, the regulator, and civil society. And it sheds light on a range of situations and technologies, like telephone use in post-conflict regions of Sri Lanka, Wi-Fi deployment in Indonesia, and universal service obligations in India




Telephony, the Internet, and the Media


Book Description

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC), this volume begins with a historical survey of a quarter-century of TPRC meetings as one measure of change in and research about the telecommunications industry. Additional papers reflecting the ongoing pace of change in technological, economic, and policy issues are organized around four topics: * economic analysis of local and international telephone policy; * media industry studies including video competition, guidelines for children's educational television, and the setting of AM stereo standards; * applications and policy regarding the Internet; and * comparative studies in telephone and satellite policy. Collectively, the contents of this volume assess key issues for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Research reported in this volume illustrates the continually expanding scope of scholarly concerns about the telecommunications and information industry and contributes to further policy research and analysis.




South Asian Economic Development


Book Description

This new edition provides an up-to-date guide to the growing markets in South Asia. It offers an analysis of the changes and consequences of high sustainable growth of the region and provide an outlook as to where these economies are heading in the future. Focusing on the region's economic performance and achievements in the economic development front, the textbook will be of great interest to students and researchers in development economics, business economics, development studies and Asian studies.




No Miracle


Book Description

No Miracle examines the role of institutions in bridging the 'digital divide' between rich and poor nations and what that means for the country's integration into a global economy. Shifting the debate from whether institutions are important to economic development to which institutions are important and how to build them, Mitchell Wigdor expertly addresses fundamental shortcomings in the existing development literature by identifying specific institutions that mediate the relationship between Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and economic growth. In doing so he challenges those concerned with development to shift their gaze from whether institutions are important to economic development to which institutions might be the focus of government efforts and how to build them. Detailed case studies of the economic development strategies of Singapore and Malaysia from 1960 demonstrate that institution-building and economic development may be as much about process as the specific policies governments pursue. Written in accessible, non-technical, language this book should be read by everyone concerned with economic growth both in less economically developed countries and the more prosperous including those in government, international organizations, NGOs, universities, policy makers and the private sector.