Convergence in Communications Industry: Regulatory Challenges, Issues and Trends

The radical restructuring of the communications industry is underway. Many set rules and standards have become obsolete. Convergence requires new ways to cope with this reality. The fast technological changes are forcing policy makers and regulators to review their policies, challenge for the policy makers and regulators is how to promote competition for this radically changing market structure and what is the best framework to encourage investment and innovation while keeping in mind the public interest? What is the right form of intervention, if any, and where it should be applied? This paper discusses these issues by considering the practical examples from the developed countries. The role of ex ante regulations is becoming minimal; instead ex post regulations are increasingly becoming the choice. However, the role of regulator will always be there, at least, for social issues and spectrum allocation.