Telecommunications liberalisation and the quest for universal service in Australia

Abstract

For at least 20 years privatisation and liberalisation have been championed as forces to lower prices and improve the telecommunication services available to consumers. Yet three years after Australia completed the radical transformation of its telecommunications market and began the privatisation of the former national monopoly carrier, the long cherished egalitarian goal of universal service has become a high-stakes policy contest as industry complains about cost-burdens and people in regional and remote Australia demand improved telecommunications infrastructures. In this environment the policy makers must carefully consider the risks associated with addressing the competing demands of telecommunications companies, new shareholders and key electoral constituencies. This paper uses the Australian universal service obligation in telecommunications to illustrate the unforeseen pitfalls that emerge when the effects of liberalisation threaten to undercut the delivery of a long cherished social objective.