Anastassios Gentzoglanis and Anders Henten (Eds): Regulation and the Evolution of the Global Telecommunications Industry

* Anastassios GENTZOGLANIS and Anders HENTEN (Eds) Regulation and the Evolution of the Global Telecommunications Industry Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA xvii + 350 pages including author biographies and index When an increasing number of countries started to embrace liberalization and privatization in the late 1980s, independent regulation was envisioned as a transitory arrangement to be superseded by antitrust policy once more robust competition was established. Despite the massive competitive transformation of the industry, more than 20 years later telecommunications regulation has not withered away. Although retail regulation has lost in importance, competition has not emerged as swiftly and as broadly as anticipated and numerous new regulatory tasks have arisen. Contrary to the narrow original view of regulation as a substitute for competition, it is increasingly recognized as a complement to markets and a force that shapes the evolution of the industry. In many areas, such as wholesale regulation or next-generation networks, regulation has become more complex, multi-faceted, and even intrusive.