This paper makes a case for compiling a new set of industry statistics based upon MiTT -- minutes of telecommunications traffic. For most countries, telecommunication flows are a statistical 'lack hole'. Annual reports are the rule; there is no common unit of account; and data on traffic flows is...

The USA suffers a large and growing balance of payments deficit in the telecommunications sector, a phenomenon often blamed on the international accounting rate system. The experience of other countries suggests that this explanation is too simple, however. This article concludes from a new...