Private Telecom Projects - Private Activity Down 15 Percent in 2003
Author: Ada Karina Izaguirre
Source: Public Policy Journal No. 288, the World Bank, April 2005.
Drawing on the World Bank's Private Participation in Infrastructure Project Database,
this Note reviews developments in the telecommunications sector in 2003. Data for
the year show that investment in projects with private participation was back to
1996 levels. Two regions - the Middle East and North Africa and Europe and Central
Asia - saw private activity grow in 2003. And developing country companies were
the most active sponsors.
Private Participation in Telecommunications - Recent Trends
Author: Ada Karina Izaguirre
Source: Public Policy Journal No. 204, the World Bank, December
1999.
More than ninety developing economies opened their telecommunications sector to
private participation between 1990 and 1998. These countries transferred to the
private sector the operating or construction risk, or both, of more than 500 projects,
attracting investment commitments of US$214 billion. Two-thirds of that amount has
been invested in expanding and modernizing networks; the other third has gone to
governments as divestiture revenues or license fees. The investment shows three
main trends: Latin America is in the lead. Private participation takes place in
increasingly competitive market structures. And divestitures and greenfield projects
outnumber operations and management contracts.