The role of competition in institutional reform of telecommunications: lessons from Sri Lanka

Samarajiva, Rohan

doi:10.1016/s0308-5961(00)00057-4

Cited by 34 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The telecommunications regulator initially was strong and proactive and SLT once had to pay out US$1 million to consumers for violating a tariff order issued by the regulator. Yet, over time its progress on the governance side waned, and its interventions have been subject to criticism over its lack of independence, capability, impartiality, accountability and transparency (Jayasuriya and Knight-John, 2000;Samarajiva, 2000;Samarajiva and Dokeniya, 2004;Balasooriya et al, 2006a). As Ramasundara (2002) argued in the recent past, a number of operators were compelled to resort to litigation in order to resolve their disputes, as the regulator was not able to resolve them to the satisfaction of the parties involved.…”

Section: Regulatory Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ownership, competition and regulation under privatization policy: the Sri Lankan experience

Balasooriya¹,

Alam²,

Coghill³

2007

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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In response to the global shift from command-based economies to market economies, Sri Lanka liberalized its economy in 1977. Liberalization includes three main components, i.e. institutional reforms, removal of barriers to market entry, and creation of proper regulatory regimes. Privatization as one of the strategies under liberalization, however, became the prominent policy adopted in the second wave of liberalization that took place in Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s. This was aimed at not only reducing the fiscal and administrative burdens of a large public enterprise sector, but also to stimulate private sector development and to inspire greater government accountability. The fundamentals for successful implementation were, however, the change in ownership, the designing of policies to stimulate competition and changes in the regulatory regime with capable institutions. This article explores and analyses the extent to which the prevailing socio-political culture of the country has influenced these three dimensions of the reforms that have taken place in the public utility sectors in Sri Lanka. It argues that if any of the three dimensions of privatization — that is, ownership, competition and regulation — are not taken into serious consideration, the expected outcomes would not be met. The arguments are built up under the same three pillars of privatization using primary and secondary data. It also highlights the importance of putting equal emphasis on all three dimensions of liberalization instead of pure organizational reforms. However, successful implementation is also subject to the availability of domestic conditions that are supportive of reforms. Points for practitioners • Reforms in the public utility sectors in Sri Lanka since the early 1980s with special reference to privatization policy have been dealt with. • The importance of paying equal attention to all three dimensions, i.e. ownership, competition and regulation, is highlighted. • The consequences of privatization of two industries, i.e. gas industry and telecommunications, are discussed in detail. • Sri Lanka has responded to the demands for reforms without creating a legal and institutional framework and ignoring domestic conditions.

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Section: Regulatory Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ownership, competition and regulation under privatization policy: the Sri Lankan experience

Balasooriya¹,

Alam²,

Coghill³

2007

International Review of Administrative Sciences

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“…Data prices are also low (LIRNEasia 2010). Even though prices of the privatized fixed supplier were raised by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) as part of a rate rebalancing exercise (Samarajiva 2000), privatization continues to be popular. The legislation that constituted the framework for the reforms, the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Act, No.…”

Section: Telecommunicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investing in Infrastructure

Biller¹,

Nabi²

2013

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“…are former Ministry or PTO employees). This occurred, for example, in Sri Lanka where the former Managing Director of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) was named Director General of the regulatory authority [13,14].…”

Section: B the Context Ofindependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Regulatory independence and wireless market development: A comparative analysis of two African nations

Gorp¹,

Maitland²

2009

2009 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD)

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This study analyzes the nature of regulatory independence and its influence on wireless market development in Tanzania and Botswana. The study finds that the level of regulatory independence is associated with improved market conditions. The research has implications for theories of regulation and market development in low income countries. In particular the Tanzania case suggests that the independence of regulation can have secondary effects such as diversity of technologies and faster transitions to advanced technologies, while the reversal of independence in Botswana highlights the need for greater insights into the under-theorized dynamic nature of regulatory independence.

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The role of competition in institutional reform of telecommunications: lessons from Sri Lanka

Cited by 34 publications

References 3 publications

Ownership, competition and regulation under privatization policy: the Sri Lankan experience

Ownership, competition and regulation under privatization policy: the Sri Lankan experience

Investing in Infrastructure

Regulatory independence and wireless market development: A comparative analysis of two African nations

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