Managing privatizations in the
telecommunications sector
Kostas Karamanis
Department of Business Administration, University of Patras, Greece
Until the 1980s the structure of the telecommunications sector was monopolistic. In
almost all developed countries the sector was dominated by a government-owned orga-
nization managing the telecommunication network and exclusively providing telecom-
munication services. However, the rapid growth of telecommunications in the last two
decades has led to the need for structural changes.
These changes include, among others, the progressive liberalization of the sector, the
establishment of a regulatory framework, and the privatization of government-owned
telecommunication organizations (PTOs).
The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the existing relevant
literature and to estimate the effect of privatization on the corporate governance of
telecommunication organizations.
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
However, the rapid
progress and development
of telecommunications,
especially since 1980, has
led to the need for
structural changes
for provision of novel services, as well as for
lower prices, nor could it keep up with impor-
tant technological advances. These develop-
ments led to the implementation of a world-wide
policy that resulted in the reform of telecom-
munications. In particular, there was a global
opening of markets to competition, along with
the establishment of a regulating framework
and the privatization of the traditional Public
Telecommunication Organizations (PTOs).
There have been a significant number of
studies that have attempted to assess the
Strat. Change 18: 81–91 (2009)
Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/jsc.840
Strategic Change
* Correspondence to: Kostas Karamanis. P. O. Box 40,
Ampelakia Ioannina 45 500, Greece.
E-mail: kkaramanis@yahoo.com
Introduction
For many years the telecommunications sector
was typified by its monopolistic structure. In
almost all developed countries, a government
organization used to manage the telecommu-
nications network and to provide telecommu-
nication services on an exclusive basis. To a
great extent this situation was due to the exis-
tence of a natural monopoly, i.e. the fact that
the demand for telecommunications could
be satisfied by a single company at low cost.
However, the rapid progress and development
of telecommunications, especially since 1980,
has led to the need for structural changes. In
particular, the cumbersome bureaucratic appa-
ratus with limited know-how was unable to
satisfy the proliferating customer demands for
upgraded quality of already available services,
Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Strategic Change