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Chronicles a series of errors in the Telecommunications Act by using a “fairy tale” scenario to aid in explanation of this US 1996 procedure. Addresses local market jurisdiction and dual cost standards. Concludes many of the Act’s goals remain largely unfulfilled as local exchange customers will not see the benefits the Act was hoped to deliver, until technology allows better delivery.

The purpose of this paper is to use “best practice” regulatory principles to derive proposals for fostering competition in Thailand's telecommunications market.

On‐site research in Thailand was conducted, including interviews with a range of policy and regulatory agencies and telecommunications market participants.

The paper finds that Thailand's relatively late start in applying pro‐competitive regulation in the telecommunications sector presents an opportunity for installation of “regulatory leap‐frogging” measures proposed by the paper. The concession regime that prevails in Thailand is a major obstacle resulting in “gridlock” of Thailand's efforts to develop competition in the telecommunications sector. The Thai Constitution prohibits the regulator from directly regulating telecommunications companies operating on the basis of concessions that were in place prior to the adoption of the new telecommunications law. The paper examines this problem and points to a solution. Another major problem is the protracted absence of the National Broadcasting Commission that has been given joint responsibility (along with the National Telecommunications Commission) for spectrum management. Accordingly, pressing decisions regarding spectrum management cannot be made. The paper concludes that the two Commissions be merged (especially in the face of convergence). The paper finds that Thailand needs to develop and implement a national strategy for the development of communications infrastructure, including a collaborative approach to infrastructure development.

There are very few (if any) independent studies of policy and regulation of Thailand's telecommunications sector. More broadly, the paper indicates – by way of a case study – how “best practice” regulatory guidelines might be applied to enhance competition in developing countries.

The purpose of the paper is to identify the factors that have moved some regulators around the world to restructure their regulatory agencies towards an integrated information and communication technology (ICT) regulator.

This paper uses the theory of transaction costs as an analytical framework to analyze the regulatory convergence efforts of the UK, India, Malaysia, and South Africa. It relies on case study methodology to elucidate the obstacles towards a converged policy framework.

The cases show that these countries moved towards a converged regulator and laws to eliminate obsolete rules that were hampering investment and slowing competition in the ICT sector. The governments also wanted to eliminate some redundancies and simplify the rules used in regulating ICTs. For some countries the ICT regulator maintains traditional industry distinctions but others moved towards an issues‐organizing framework. The challenges included training, consultations with affected parties, changes in the law, and coping with rules that were still valid.

Given the rapid development of technology and the blurring boundaries of ICTs, regulators are advised to make changes to their regulatory bodies and adopt a more flexible regime of laws and regulators that are able to accommodate technological and industry changes.

The paper makes a unique contribution by linking the theories of collective action and transactions cost to explain why convergence of telecommunications regulation happens and the obstacles that regulatory agencies face in the process.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the objectives of telecommunications universal service have been achieved in Finland, largely without any formal universal service regulation.

The approach is a historical one, showing the evolution over time of service take‐up and use, as well as legislative changes. A range of people were interviewed with first‐hand knowledge of the development of Finland's telecommunications sector, and drew on a range of published data sources.

Fixed telephony is now used by a minority of households in Finland, having been superseded by mobile and broadband. The paper finds that the European framework, which Finland was required to adopt added no value to previous practices. The potential for any losses due to universal service to be financed by the state in fact has created an adverse investment incentive.

Since universal service has been a “non‐issue” in Finland, this is thought to be the first attempt to describe how universal service has in fact been achieved there. Besides displaying aspects of the Finnish experience that other countries could learn from, the paper raises a number of useful questions for policy makers.

By 2016, Botswana aspires to triple its 1994 per capita income and to completely diversify its economic base. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) objectives, as spelt out in the SADC Policy document, emphasise the attainment of enhanced development and economic growth, poverty alleviation, and support of the socially disadvantaged through regional integration. Since telecommunications have long been recognised as the engine for economic growth, the aspirations of SADC and Botswana are consistent with the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications, and Metrology, which aims at developing a reliable, efficient, vibrant, consumer‐driven telecommunications sector. We examine the focus of the World Bank and the International Telecommunications Union, in global telecommunications development. We then discuss the efforts of Botswana and other SADC states in ensuring that they take advantage of the private sector finances to build reliable, sophisticated public telecommunications networks for entry into the Global Information Infrastructure (GII).

Studies media convergence in Canada, arguing it has always been a possibility as change is not a consequence of new technologies but a shift from efforts to prevent cross‐media combinations, to initiatives that promote this aim. Sums up that media reconvergence and the information highway are at the top of the communications policy agenda, but how it will involve is unclear.

In the UK over the last 20 years there has been a proliferation in the statutory provisions for wayleaves. The utilities requiring wayleaves such as the water, gas and electricity companies have now been joined by cable TV and a host of telecommunications providers. All have access to compulsory powers. However, there are variations between these powers and between the compensation arrangements. The main objective of this article is to examine whether the compensation arrangements are now appropriate, following the privatisation of the gas, electricity, water and telecommunication companies. The article considers the results of a six‐month study of wayleaves funded by the RICS, which was completed in 2000, and recommends that, in order to strike a fair balance between the interests of the utilities and the landowners, legislative change is required. Claimants should not merely be entitled to the financial equivalent of their loss, but instead a consideration should be paid reflecting, in effect, a rental for the wayleave.

This article surveys the recent experience of resolving access and interconnection issues in four quite different economies in East Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia. It suggests that there are some important questions that decide how interconnect issues are resolved in practice: clarity of the rules; national priorities; regulator activism; emphasis on negotiation by the parties and the overall pricing model. The overall finding is that the degree of regulatory intervention required to make interconnect regimes work has largely been underestimated.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the legal issues of simultaneous Internet transmission of broadcasting programs of the Open University of Japan (OUJ) and to take legal measures to promote the mutual utilization of open university courses in Japan, the UK, China and Korea.

The author examines the legal relationship regarding Internet simultaneous distribution of broadcast courses at the OUJ. The author then considers the legal relationship between the UK, China and South Korea regarding the simultaneous transmission of broadcast courses over the internet. Based on that consideration, this paper clarifies legal measures to promote its utilization.

Internet transmission of broadcasting courses will be webcasting. Arguably, it can be assumed to be streaming and on-demand, albeit controversial. Webcasting will be publicly transmitted, but there is only an on-demand provision for Internet transmission. As webcasting is streaming and on-demand, it involves reproduction of broadcasting courses. Therefore, webcasting needs to provide streaming provision for public transmission rights and associate them with reproduction right.

The originality of this paper lies in clarifying the legal response of the object, subject and rights of webcasting from the perspective of the OUJ, in order to dispel legal problems that may arise in the future against this unexplored phenomenon. Additionally, this paper is valuable in that it presents legal consistency from the point of view of the comparative laws of Japan, the UK, China and South Korea, based on an examination of the legal response in Japan.

Cyberspace is a virtual environment where instantaneous communications are initiated and consumed using computer networks without any natural or artificial boundaries. These communications are not only an exchange of information but also a catharsis on the socio-political environment of the real world. This explosion of electronic expression is often detrimental to the traditional secretive maneuvers of nation states and the exercise of its power. Unable to come to terms with the new reality nation states through legislative action or otherwise attempt to assert its sovereignty in the space that has no political and societal boundaries. This may lead to an encroachment on basic human rights that often have constitutional guarantees in the real world but may be violated in the online milieu. This paper aims to investigate this issue in detail and evaluate whether nation states are using cyber-security as a propaganda tool to transgress on electronic expression.

The Website of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights states “In December 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 68/167, which expresses deep concern at the negative impact that surveillance and interception of communications may have on human rights”. It further says “The General Assembly called on all States to review their procedures, practices and legislation related to communications surveillance, interception and collection of personal data and emphasized the need for States to ensure the full and effective implementation of their obligations under international human rights law”. With this development, this paper seeks to unravel the role of nation states in using cybersecurity as a propaganda tool by raising the specter of threat to national security and economic wellbeing. The paper is based on exploratory research with data compilation from secondary sources. To collect data, various research papers, books and journals have been referenced and data available in public domain has been accumulated.

This paper has tried to unravel state action on cyberspace which often runs counter to the concept of civil liberties. It indicates that in terms of both national security and economic impact, cybercrime represent a very nominal threat vector. Also, cybercrime as compared with other forms of crime is again nominal. Finally, cyber laws and policies of different countries need to be more nuanced such as to allow space for civil liberties. Overall, the propaganda surrounding the malaise of cybercrime seems to be more hype than real. We already have examples of countries who have transgressed into electronic expression in cyber space. Therefore, UN has a valid reason to raise a red flag on this unfolding issue.

This paper was published at 21st Americas Conference of Information Systems held at Puerto Rico, USA, between August 13-15, 2015 (AMCIS, 2015). The authors of this paper seek review by Editors of the Journal for Republication of original work. The authors have taken cognizance of the Originality Guidelines for Emerald published at this URL www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/authors/writing/originality.htm