ABSTRACT
In this book we have analysed the liberalisation process of the telecommunications sector. Our main focus has been on the EU, and in order to broaden the picture of the process in a sector that is increasingly global in nature, we have included studies of the Czech Republic, Israel and Thailand. We have described the process from its early stages in the UK (and the US) in the late 1970s, through the establishment of a unified EU regulatory regime in the decade 1987 to 1997, to a full opening of all segments from 1 January 1998. In addition, we have tried to explain both the rationale behind the establishment of this unified regime and to account for variations in the ability and willingness to implement and practise this regime correctly within the different countries. Finally, we have shown how this development is linked both to the technological development and the emerging new business logic of the new ‘infocom’ sector.
