University of Macau / Faculty of Law

This thesis seeks to contribute to solving the debate about the framework of rules and institutions applicable to public utility sectors, by adopting both economic theories, such as natural monopoly, network effects, and public goods, and practical analysis of the telecommunications sectors for both Australia and the United States. Governments must reevaluate the framework regulating public utility sectors whenever rapid technological advancements occur. This thesis argues that the antitrust authority better enforces competition rules, and that the sector-specific authority better enforces technical and universal service rules. The justification of the special competition rule concerning bottleneck facilities access should be limited. As for the universal service scheme, the enforcer should ensure competitive neutrality and adopt pro-competitive instruments. This framework would allow for a more market-oriented and economy-wide regulatory administration, as well as enforcement of the universal service scheme based on a more accurate reflection of the fundamental values of citizens.

This study applies a critical discourse analysis framework to an examination of the constitutive effects of three regulatory proceedings, called “The Computer Inquiries,” on contemporary notions about communications infrastructure policy. The Computer Inquiries are a trio of interrelated U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dockets focused on problems posed by the convergence of regulated telephony with unregulated computing services. The Inquiry docket texts, which date from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s, are a basis for the liberalization of common carrier1 regulation and are the empirical evidence that the dissertation draws upon to trace the incremental evolution of terms used to define the boundaries between these converging services. Datasets include the 23 documents contained in three case studies: Computer Inquiry I (FCC Docket 16979), Computer Inquiry II (FCC Docket 20828), and Computer Inquiry III (FCC Docket 85-229). The first case study traces the incremental construction of a concept called “hybrid” services as the foundation for an FCC policy of “maximum industry separation” between common carriers and data processing companies. The second case study illustrates how the FCC subsequently re-engineered the hybrid concept into regulatory categories of “basic” and “enhanced” services. This definitional shift justified liberalizing the FCC’s maximum separation policy into a “modified” policy based upon a resale structure. The third case study demonstrates how the FCC further relaxed the resale policy by implementing accounting controls to distinguish between regulated common carriers providing the telecommunications infrastructure (conduit) used by unregulated information services (content) companies. Research reveals the malleable and somewhat arbitrary nature of regulatory distinctions between content and conduit as a basis for the FCC’s shifting jurisdictional authority over common carriers. During the course of the Inquiries, the FCC transitioned from a proactive to a reactive regulator with a discursive strategy involving what the dissertation calls “linguistic engineering.” Finally, the study notes the lack of attention to First Amendment and democracy concerns in all three Inquiry dockets. The dissertation concludes by calling for a Fourth Computer Inquiry to reconsider the legacy of the Computer Inquiries through which the principle of nondiscriminatory carriage of information by telecommunications providers has been eroded. / text

Our examination of ministerial licensing under the Radio Act, attempts to first show that its use in the early 1980s was driven more by a desire within the Department of Communications to be dominant in setting policy than by necessity. The case studies we then discuss show that the argument advanced at the time of the Department's announcement to license cellular---that there is greater accountability in expanding elected officials' powers in regulatory affairs---fails to prove itself in practice. After careful examination of the two cases in which Ministerial licensing has been used in Canada, this paper points problems with ministerial licensing. First, as our case studies will clearly show, Ministerial licensing is apparently incapable of providing any of the policy leadership or public accountability. Second, and perhaps more important in the long term, Ministerial licensing in telecommunications contravenes all of Canada's own efforts to secure a fair and procedurally defined international regime for telecom regulation. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Convergence has blurred the artificial limits that traditionally existed between separated sectors and services. In particular, technological convergence united cable and telephone networks as convenient platforms for the provision of numerous new telecommunications services. The advent of the Internet and the development of other services started a race for the acquisition of broadband transmission that has, in part, prompted a number of corporate mergers between the major telephone, cable, and Internet service providers. / This thesis analyzes the legal implications of the convergence of cable operators and telephone carriers in the United States of America (U.S.). The analysis was conducted in light of the 1996 Telecommunications Act's provisions, the Federal Communications Commission's reports and orders, and under the critical approaches of the cable and telephone industries. This thesis presents recommendations addressed to promote an equal regulatory treatment for all telecommunications competitors in the U.S.

Competing successfully in globalized markets requires a complex mix of product, price, promotion and distribution. It requires novel approaches to ownership in overseas involvement and the development of new modes of global relationships. In response to these needs, new types of alliances are emerging as corporations endeavor to meet the global challenge. At the forefront of globalization, the telecommunications industry is experiencing a high-rate of cross-border alliance formation. / This thesis attempts to straddle both business and legal domains, on national and international levels, to survey the evolution of the telecommunications industry and to envisage the future prospects of multinational telecom carriers with respect to the conduct of transnational alliances for international expansion. Chapter 1 describes the changes occurring in the field of telecommunications, while Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 provide an essential understanding of the motivations and the modalities of cross-border strategic alliances and propose contracting techniques for the purpose of surmounting managerial and operational challenges that may be confronted when engaging in global strategic alliances. With a focus on the telecommunications industry, Chapter 4 explores the motives of and difficulties encountered by multinational telecom carriers in using alliances to expand globally, and examines their business strategies and performing phases. Chapter 5 further questions the necessity of using cross-border strategic alliances in an increasingly international competitive environment by examining the current national and international regimes with respect to the transactions of telecom services. The Conclusion reviews significant factors that may infringe upon the use of strategic alliances as a business strategy.

Over the last years the demand for satellite communication services has been increased. Global and domestic regulatory developments and support, as well as the emerge of new services, have facilitated launcMng capabilities and reduced the costs of manufacturing, launching and operating the satellites. Financing the telecommunication satellite systems is one of the most relevant issues that prospective satellite operators face on these days. Mstitutional lenders require adequate legal advise in order to properly instrument multimillion transactions where securitization is not enough clear and risks are extremely Mgh. TMs work analyzes the most important sources of financing of telecommunication satellites and the most adequate legal structures and methods based in legislation, legal cases, jurisprudence, doctrine, and legal practice.

Thanks to the use of satellite technology, mobile personal telecommunications systems are able to provide communications simultaneously anywhere on the Earth's surface. The implementation of such systems raises several regulatory issues: after a brief explanation of the technical characteristics of different satellite systems in the first chapter, the second chapter will introduce the principles of space law relevant to satellite communications, with particular attention to the provisions which the development of global satellite telecommunication system could infringe. In the third chapter, there will be place for further analysis of international regulations established in the framework of the International Telecommunication Union and the World Trade Organisation, dealing more specifically with satellite telecommunications. The discipline established by the former organisation aims to the optimal management of the orbit and spectrum resources, particularly controversial because of the divergence of interests and exigencies of the member countries, whereas the latter intervened in the liberalisation of the telecommunication services, with the purpose to create an open environment for their diffusion. Furthermore, telecommunication activities are subjected to national regulation. The domestic discipline pertaining to global mobile satellite telecommunication services will be analysed in the fourth chapter, with particular attention to the U.S. Federal Communication Commission regulations and to the developments of Italian legislation in the light of the recent European initiatives in the field. National authorisation requirement conditions, in spite of the international effort toward regulatory harmonisation and liberalisation, are the key elements in the deployment of global mobile telecommunications services. National authorities should not continue to function solely on the basis of their national considerations, but be more flexible and open to cooperation, a

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