The international telecommunications regime: the political roots of regimes for high technology

Abstract

The international telecommunications regime provided a multilateral framework that reinforced domestic monopolies and bilateral cartel arrangements in the global market. The regime's epistemic community believed that telecommunications services and equipment were best supplied by national monopolies and that international communications by telephone, telegram, and telex should be jointly provided by monopolists. Strong domestic political incentives reinforced this cognitive framework. When technological innovation triggered a successful political attack on the domestic regulation of telecommunications in a few key countries, the stage was set for a global challenge to the intellectual and political foundations of the regime. Two paths to reform have emerged. Their significance can be assessed by looking at changes in the distribution of benefits from the regime, changes in the manner in which governments delegate power to the regime, and shifts in the epistemic community associated with the regime.

International organization: institutions and order in world politics

“…From the beginning, however, regime theorists were addressing issues such as why regimes change or evolve (Lipson, 1982) and how to measure a regime's effectiveness (Haas, Keohane and Levy, 1993;Bernauer, 1995). Regime theory has been applied to a wide variety of issue areas, including international security (Jervis, 1982;McCalla, 1996), trade (Finlayson and Zacher, 1981;Aggarwal, 1985;Yarbrough and Yarbrough, 1987), finance (Cohen, 1982;Lipson, 1985), human rights (Donnelly, 1986), telecommunications (Cowhey, 1990;Zacher, 1996;Sandholtz, 1993), and the environment (Young, 1989;Young and Osherenko, 1993;Haas, Keohane and Levy, 1993). International legal scholars have increasingly used regime theory to better understand issues such as international trade law, arms control agreements, and the law of treaties (Abbott, 1985;Smith, 1991;Setear, 1996; see also Aceves, 1997).…”

New visions, old practices: Policy and regulation in the Internet era

“…Commitments to neoliberalism were reflected in the 'Global Information Infrastructure' initiatives of the 1990s which promoted the expansion of the Internet (Gore, 1995;Kahin & Wilson III, 1997). The mantra for both the wealthy and poor countries was -privatise, liberalise and compete (Cowhey, 1990;Petrazzini, 1995) and the neoliberal "western liberalisation model" was exported worldwide (Mansell, 1992). We are now witnessing a resurgence of the forces of monopolisation in some segments of the industry and this has implications for the Internet's development and for policy.…”

From National Champions to Global Players? Lobbying by Network Operators During the WTO's Basic Telecommunication Negotiations

“…The previous international regime for telecommunications had been built to preserve their national dominance and protect their interests. When more competitive countries such as the United States challenged the old system and sought to make it more flexible from within, proponents of the traditional model resisted (Cowhey, 1990;Drake, 2000). Until the early 1990s, the political economy of the international telecommunications regime favored national network providers.…”

“…The system was perfectly suited to the Woll / From National Champions to Global Players? 235 monopolistic regimes that provided telecom services and products to the majority of industrialized countries (Cowhey, 1990;1993).…”