ABSTRACT
This chapter provides insight into present and future developments of regulatory regimes and policies in the telecommunications sector and contributes to the Universal Service programs discussion by taking into consideration a number of Latin American and European Union (EU) countries, all of them dealing with a different idea of universality, policy tools and procedures. It analyses the interplay between Regulatory State and Welfare State and the notion of the 'regulatory regime' as the principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures around which actors' expectations converge in a given issue. The chapter argues that complementary grants to mobile phone services and mainline phone services would be able to ensure social inclusion for disadvantaged people, with less State intervention. It talks about the empirical work that aims to understand the regime orientation and organization of Universal Service or Access programs involving central institutions such as NRAs, and the circumstances under which programs are put in place and policy innovation is achieved.
