In recent decades, most countries have initiated telecommunications reforms, with these reform
programs manifesting divergences in approaches. An important reason for this lies in different
motivations shaped by the individual environments of countries. For example, in the United States,
the unofficial status of the AT&T monopoly made it a target for antitrust laws. In consequence,
market change has been consistent, and the US has become a leading country in telecommunications
reform. Moreover, because of the dominant capacity of domestic incumbents, international
competition has also been encouraged to a certain degree (Baliga & Santalainen, 1999). In the UK,
market liberalization was initiated by the government's move to improve the performance of
state-owned enterprises. In contrast, most countries in the EU, while being weary about large
foreign operators entering their markets before domestic operators were ready, and before being
"satisfied" with their universal service, have preferred cautious reforms (Collins & Murroni, 1997;
Finland Ministry, 1996). Expecting to promote their economies by the fast development of telecommunications, some developing countries have adopted radical, excessive changes in telecommunications
through attracting foreign capital (Petrazzini, 1995).