Telecommunications in developing countries: reflections from the South African experience

South Africa has embarked on a process of privatisation of telecommunications while at the same time aiming to extend telecommunications services to a larger proportion of the population. The article reviews the debates on privatisation and international experience with a particular emphasis on issu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Telecommunications policy 2003-02, Vol.27 (1), p.41-59
Main Authors: Makhaya, Gertrude, Roberts, Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Developing countries
Economic development
LDCs
Policy studies
Privatisation
Privatization
Regulation
South Africa
Studies
Telecommunications
Telecommunications industry
Telecommunications policy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:South Africa has embarked on a process of privatisation of telecommunications while at the same time aiming to extend telecommunications services to a larger proportion of the population. The article reviews the debates on privatisation and international experience with a particular emphasis on issues of economic development and regulation. The experience of South Africa is then analysed in terms of different indicators of performance, the regulatory record and the progress on service extension. The findings indicate that there have been undoubted gains in the quality and range of services. However, in common with other countries, the South African case also highlights the importance of strong capabilities in regulation, and the problems of service extension under a shift to private-sector imperatives.
ISSN:0308-5961
1879-3258
DOI:10.1016/S0308-5961(02)00090-3