Douglas C. Pitt

Restructuring in European telecommunications: modelling the evolving market

The past 20 years have seen the worldwide telecommunications industry transformed from predominantly dormant, country‐centred, government‐run agencies, to increasingly competitive, innovative and market‐led organisations. Much of the will to change has stemmed from the visionary market liberalisation and deregulation policies of the US and UK governments. Indeed, such determined change has brought with it creative and vibrant strategic positioning and repositioning of firms within the evolving global telecommunications marketplace. As a result, in pushing forward the frontiers of knowledge within this rapidly changing environment, the main focus of this study examines and analyses secondary literature and considers the key dynamic factors driving structural change within the European telecommunications market. To this end, a theoretical model of their respective impact on market structure is generated.

Touching stones to cross the river: Evolving telecommunication policy priorities in contemporary China

This article, drawing on fieldwork in China, charts the ascendancy of Lian Tong (China Unicom), the first competitor to the incumbent Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Commencing with an historical overview of Chinese telecommunications, it suggests that Lian Tongs formation has been contingent upon support from key constituencies within Chinas political elite. The companys emergence mirrors technological trends and user pressure evident globally. It embodies the drive towards market liberalisation now evident within the Peoples’ Republic. While the Chinese policy community is sensible of the need to make haste slowly toward the goal of telecommunications competition — ‘touching stones to cross the river’ in the contemporary aphorism — the success of this ‘policy experiment’ depends both on the subtleties of Chinese politics and the construction of bold new regulatory frameworks. Lian Tongs genesis is symbolic of developments in the telecommunications sector, and maybe also more generally in t...

Competition in the telecommunications industry: a new global paradigm and its limits

The ascendancy of competition in the telecommunications industry suggests the emergence of a new public policy paradigm. By tracing the progress of two first movers - the United States and the United Kingdom - the technological, industrial and economic pressures for change can be observed. In this paper we present the underlying assumptions, effects and expected benefits of the competitive paradigm. We argue, however, that the outcomes experienced by early adopters of this paradigm may not be the same for later entrants. Evidence from other industries, economic development theory, and social equity literature questions the assumption that all nations should progress along identical telecommunications policy paths.

Convergence auditing: the context of improved billing service – with reference to the experience of British Telecom

It has been commonly agreed that convergence of computing technology with that of telecommunications in the early 1980s has brought a revolution to the telecommunications sector (Hudson, 1997). The traditional pattern of natural monopoly is disappearing in more and more countries, while all incumbent telecommunications operators are facing increasingly fierce competition from new market entrants. To defend their leading positions in the market, these incumbent operators are vigorously restructuring their development strategy to a more market‐originated one. The drastic improvement of British Telecom’s (BT’s) billing system is one of the most evident proofs of this change.

Paradigms lost?: Reflections on the coming organizational ‘revolution’

Abstract The question of optimal organizational change for the future is attracting growing interest. The authors examine the literature to date and find that its basic tenets are too simplistic and over-optimistic to provide a methodological base for evaluation of change in the future.

COMPETITION IN THE CHINESE CELLULAR MARKET: PROMISE AND PROBLEMATIC

Telecommunications in China was monopolized by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) until 1994 when China Unicom, a joint venture with share holders consisting of the Ministry of Electronic Industry (MEI), the Ministry of Railways (MOR), the Ministry of Electrical Power (MEP) and thirteen other very large state-owned companies, was formally established. The MPT was then designated as the regulator of national telecommunications by the State Council, while China Unicom was committed to compete with China Telecom - the then renamed telecommunications operation arm of the MPT.

Judicial policymaking: The greeneing of US telecommunications

The reconfiguration of the US telecommunications industry since 1982 is to an important extent the result of judicial activity.’ Judge Harold H. Greene of the Federal District Court of Columbia, in a series of decisions made under US antitrust law, has been the major catalyst in the transformation of this formerly monolithic industry. Before 1982, the American Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T) was the US telecommunications industry. Today, following its break-up or divestiture, AT&T operates in a fast-moving environment where it must compete with new market entrants. How this transformation came about has been extensively documented.2 One of the lengthiest antitrust actions in US history ended in a settlement or Consent Decree. AT&T agreed to divest itself of the bulk of its operations. It retained its long-distance service and its manufacturing operations, but would now face competition in both those markets. As a quid pro quo, it would be permitted to enter the lucrative computer and electronics enhanced service market segment. The largest corporation in the world, “Ma Bell,” was thus effectively “unbundled.” Since these momentous events, the US telecommunications industry has been in turmoil. In particular, policy-making and policy objectives have become diffused and, in the view of some critics, confused. At the centre of this policy maelstrom is the figure of Judge Harold H. Greene. In an increasingly disjointed policy arena, his role has been essentially synoptic. He, more than any other person or institution, provides the focus for major policy issues in US telecommunications. Unquestionably, Judge Greene is widely perceived as making, or at least influencing, industrial policy in this field.