Adapting Telecommunications Regulation to Competition: A Selection of Key Issues for Reform in the Philippines

Abstract

Despite gains from liberalisation and deregulation in the 1990s, the Philippines telecommunications industry continues to be hampered by poor quality of service, high prices, with high barriers to entry and lack of meaningful alternatives for citizens. This article argues that liberalisation of the telecommunications industry is insufficient in facilitating economic growth and improving consumer welfare. Competition is a necessary precondition for this to occur, and to this end, an environment that will allow competition to flourish is indispensable. Hence, telecommunications regulation must be infused with competition law principles to ensure a robust, competitive sector that improves consumer welfare.