ABSTRACT
The Philippines represents an exception to the pattern of statist types of Third World telecommunications systems. From its origins, telephone service in the country, as in the United States, has emphasized regulated, private sector control. This chapter argues that: (a) problems attributed to either state-owned or privatized systems are not necessarily inherent in the technical structure of the telecommunications system per se; (b) privatized systems of telecommunications ownership do not necessarily alter common characteristics of the infrastructure (e.g., lack of universal service, high tariffs, heavy indebtedness, insufficient investment in distributed plant and services, political manipulation and corruption, foreign equity or supply controls, etc.); and (c) the success or failure of telecommunications systems cannot be isolated from the national and international political and economic framework in which the systems operate.
