In the mid-1980s a movement towards privatization and de-regulation of the telecommunications sector was begun. The sector has been privatized in most countries and subjected to regulatory reform. The major reform occurred in the late 1990s. Since then the internet and cellular-mobile industries...

While the role of telecommunication networks historically, and today broadband and the Internet, have been theoretically linked to economic growth, the empirical results have been mixed, giving rise again to the "productivity paradox." Many governments, particularly those in Southeast Asia, have...