Telecommunications and regional integration : the case of Mercosur

This masters thesis analyzes telecommunications policies in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and relates these to the ongoing economic integration of these countries within MERCOSUR. To this end, a survey of the telecommunications sector in each of the MERCOSUR countries, depicting the main features of their respective regulatory framework, competition policy, and universal service goals is provided in Part II. Part III briefly describes the GATS/BTA framework and comments on MERCOSUR countries' commitments towards market liberalization. In Part IV, MERCOSUR's legal and institutional framework, along with the common initiatives that have been taken with respect to the telecommunications sector, are considered. By way of conclusion, Part V proposes further reflections on theoretical approaches aimed at framing telecommunications normativity in consideration of its dynamic interaction with globalization and integration in the context of MERCOSUR