Telecommunications privatization issues: The Jamaican experience

Many developing countries are privatizing their telecommunication sectors, but their governments are often inexperienced in the use of regulatory power to oversee the operations of the new private company. This article reviews pertinent issues and relevant literature concerning telecommunications privatization to provide a contextual framework for discussing the privatization of Telecommunications of Jamaica. The sale of shares and public reaction to the divestiture are examined as well as Jamaica's apparently ineffectual regulatory system which seems to ensure that such goals as universal service will not be addressed.