آزاد سازی مخابرات و توسعه اقتصادی در گذار کشورهای اروپایی

Developed and widely available telecommunications services are regarded as key enablers of a new economy. In Eastern European countries in transition, investment in telecommunications is generally perceived as a stimulus for economic growth. We investigate empirical correlation and Granger causality between certain indicators of telecommunications activity and economic growth. The indicators include total investment in the telecommunications sector and other parameters such as the penetration rate of services. We also propose additional indicators that may describe telecommunications sector development better than traditional, fixed, telephony-based measures. This is due to the migration of users from fixed to mobile networks, and from basic to broadband Internet access in the last few years. In the near future one also can expect broadband Internet users to move to mobile network infrastructure.

The development and stable functioning of a telecommunications system is a defining factor in national and global markets, especially in transition countries where an imbalance exists between telecommunications supply and demand. While the imbalance is due primarily to non-functional market mechanisms, there were other equally important reasons. Slow development and insufficiently developed telecommunications infrastructure and services in transition countries may be factors that restrict the process of opening toward countries with a developed market economy. However, these same factors may also be major obstacles to acquiring new knowledge, developing international trade, and identifying new sources of financial capital.

The telecommunications infrastructure and its related services are a major element in economic development, especially in countries in transition. Countries and economic sectors that have the necessary telecommunications infrastructure and services are able to achieve post-industrial, information-based economic growth more rapidly. In the last 10 years, the development of new telecommunications services, especially mobile telecommunications and the Internet, has completely changed the image of the overall telecommunications market development. There is a strong correlation between telecommunications and economic development, and between investments in telecommunications and economic development.