World Dialogue on Regulation

The final report from the second WDR research cycle has been released in both print and online formats. Edited by Amy Mahan and William Melody, the 383 page book contains the body of research and country case studies undertaken to investigate issues and perspectives on the theme Stimulating Investment in Network Development: Roles for Regulators.

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"IT empowers, benefits and links people the world over … access to the digital opportunities must, therefore, be open to all" (G-8 Communique 2000). This was a key message of the Group of Eight countries’ Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society in 2000. In 2003, the principle of inclusion in the benefits of information societies in local, regional and global contexts was endorsed again in the Declaration of Principles agreed at the World Summit on the Information Society. The Principles emphasise a "commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society" (WSIS 2003a). 

Together with other services being developed for information societies, electronic commerce is expected to play a major role in generating new social and economic opportunities as a result of technological innovations in information and communication technologies (ICTs). In order to achieve "inclusive and development-oriented" information societies, however, it is necessary to ensure that countries have the appropriate technical and institutional infrastructure in place to support the new services. An important issue for all countries is the extent of their readiness to implement new forms of electronic services. However, for many developing countries, there is little systematic evidence about how the new technologies are being designed and implemented in their varying contexts of use. 

Since 1994, the number of fixed line telephone subscribers in Ghana has grown from app. 50,000 to 275,000 and, in the same period of time, mobile subscribers have gone up from a couple of thousands to more than 300,000. All in all, this looks like a success story. However, the goals set by government have only partly been met – especially with respect to the development in rural areas – and the quality of service is still low and has even deteriorated on some indicators. There is, therefore, a widespread dissatisfaction with the general telecom development in Ghana among users as well as policy decision makers and administrators. 

This is, in very brief terms, the general description of the telecom development and present situation in Ghana, and the aim of this paper is to analyze this development and situation and to discuss the reasons behind the successes and failures experienced, in particular with respect to investments. 

The national political infrastructure (political institutional, and legal environment) of a country helps to define its investment environment and thus the economic growth prospects. In this paper we attempt a micro study to test this hypothesis in the context of the Indian Telecommunication sector. The Indian Telecommunication Sector provides a classical case study of how regulated telecom operators and potential investors include “regulatory risk” as a key factor in determining their investment strategies. 

Over the past few decades, the changing technological and economic scenario has imparted an element of competition to the sector. With commercial activities like banking and international finance becoming critically dependent on global information and efficient electronic exchange, the demand for telecommunication services has grown rapidly. The abysmal performance of the state-owned telecom service providers and the increasing need to attract capital for the upgradation of the sector has merely served to hasten the process. In fact the National Telecom Policy 1994, estimated a resource gap of Rs. 23,000 crores to meet the telecom targets of the eighth five-year plan of the Government of India (1992-97).