Study Of Telecommunications Control Laws

As a fundamental and strategic industry for the domestic economy, telecommunications industry enjoys monopoly operation and state control under the present national policies in China. With the rapid development of telecommunications and information technology, the state control system has exhibited many disadvantages. Since 1980s, in order to break its monopoly status and introduce competition mechanism, many countries have initiated reforms in telecommunications industry which became prevalent all over the world in the 1990s. To ensure the healthy development of the industry and cultivate the telecommunications market system which operates in accordance with the market economy, Chinese government has adopted a series of supervision policies over the industry and made relevant adjustments based on different situations and the development environment. Such policies contributed to the full exertion of the governmental macroscopic direction and control over economy, and protected the fundamental interests of the state as well as those of the consumers. As has been proved, the execution of governmental supervision and control policies is in accordance with the different realities of each stage in the Socialist Construction of China, and it has enhanced and secured the rapid development of the national economy and the construction and accumulation of the national telecommunications cause. During the past decade, there have been many great achievements: the industry monopoly has been broken and the competition mechanism has been gradually established. However, many problems still exist; for example, the insufficiency of actual competition, the functional deficiency of the supervision and control system, and the vague relationship between supervised control and competition, especially the contradiction between the legalization process of the control mechanism and the demands by the development of telecommunications industry of the supervision mechanism. It seriously hinders the reform process of the industry, which goes against the national principle of "managing state affairs according to law". Especially after entering into WTO, China will shoulder due responsibilities and implement our promises in different telecommunications service fields according to the schedule of mutual consent. Faced with the imminent challenges from the telecommunicationssuperpowers, the Chinese telecommunications industry is not well prepared.This paper analyzes the control of telecommunications by means of law and economics research methods, and proposes some reflections on the perfection of laws on control of telecommunications. This essay falls into three parts: the first part mainly introduces the basic concepts in telecommunications control, which include the connotations and features of telecommunications control; the definition and significance of competition; and the relationship between telecommunications control and competition, as well as that between telecommunications control and monopoly, etc. The second part makes an introduction to the present situations, characteristics and development trend of foreign control of telecommunications industry. By analyzing the law control of telecommunications market in the U.S. A, U. K, and New Zealand and borrowing their successful experiences, the paper endeavors to offer suggestions to the reform and development of telecommunications industry in China. The third part begins with a survey of telecommunications control in China, from 1949 till now, from strict control to competition and to moderate control. Further, the author studies the demerits of the present telecommunications regulations in China, quoting Telecommunications Ordinance as an example. In addition, since China has joined WTO and the economic operations will become more and more in accordance with international objective environment, the future of telecommunications control is an urgent problem. At present, our telecommunications law system is not in agreement with WTO requirements and still needs further improvement. Finally, based on the research of the above questions, the paper proposes some suggestions for the perfection of the law system of telecommunications control in China.