Deregulation of Telecommunications in Canada and the U.S

Abstract

In the past twenty years, deregulation has been accepted and widely used in many industries. Deregulation is defined as the release of restrictions on the entry or exit from a market and the partial or total liberalization of prices. A number of policies were established to move industries such as airlines, telecommunications, and electricity from monopoly to competition. In recent years the changes in the telecommunications services industry have been rapid and substantial around the world. The telecommunications market in Canada has experienced dramatic development. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the impact of deregulation on the telecommunications industry. Important issues are discussed in this paper: competitiveness, cost and pricing, production, the development of the Canadian telecommunications industry and the regulation and deregulation in the U.S. telecommunications industry.