Policy diffusion and telecommunications regulation

Abstract

This study investigates regulatory reforms in the telecommunications sector of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries. It explores telecommunications innovations in three developing economies (Morocco, Jordan and Egypt), with a focus on regional and European trends in telecommunications policies. Common knowledge suggests that the European Union and its member states are the main influential regulatory power in the MENA region. However, the empirical analysis of selected telecommunications regulations: universal service obligation (USO) and spectrum management, reveals that reforms are not always determined by European countries but may also originate from other developing countries, such as Peru and Chile. This finding attests to the rise of regulatory influence from the Global South, which challenges traditional transfers of regulations originating from more industrially advanced countries.