Universal service policies In Korea: Past and future

Abstract

Korean telecommunications policies have traditionally put more emphasis on equity than on efficiency. During the 1980s, the Ministry of Communications (MOC) and the Korea Telecommunication Authority (KTA) endeavored to provide universalservice by two epoch-making policies—the Immediate Telephone Installation System (ITIS) and the Widening and Automation (WA), both of which aimed to expand subscription network, quantitatively and qualitatively. With remarkable success in the 1980s and entering the 1990s, the MOC contemplates a new, innovative type of universalservicepolicy designed for increasing usage, the Nationwide Unified Telephone Rating System (NUTRS). Reviewing the economic and social environment of Korea that was conducive to the shaping of the ITIS and the WA, this article explores expected political and economic implications of the NUTRS.