Interconnect outcomes: to impose or negotiate – the experiences of Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia

This article surveys the recent experience of resolving access and interconnection issues in four quite different economies in East Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia. It suggests that there are some important questions that decide how interconnect issues are resolved in practice: clarity of the rules; national priorities; regulator activism; emphasis on negotiation by the parties and the overall pricing model. The overall finding is that the degree of regulatory intervention required to make interconnect regimes work has largely been underestimated.