Background paper on Universal Service and Universal Access issues Prepared for the Telia Telecommunications in Society 1999

This is a background document on issues of Universal Access and Universal Service in Telecommunications for discussion at the ‘Telecommunications in Society 1999 ' seminar organised by Telia in June 1999. This paper will focus on issues of relevance in the developing world and draws heavily on the ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Report 1998 (ITU 1998). There is great investment in new telecommunications services throughout the world, with information systems fulfilling an increasingly important role in the world economy. Throughout the world there is a tendency towards a competitive liberalised telecommunications environment, and there is a real risk that the large numbers of people who cannot afford a telephone (as defined by current economics) will not have the benefits of telephony and will become increasingly marginalised in a ‘wired world’. This will hinder wider socio-economic development that requires a stable telecommunications infrastructure. For telecommunications to aid the wider development of poorer countries, special concern must be given to providing general access, issues which ar