The last decade of the twentieht century was a period that saw a worldwide shift from state command economies and welfare states to market-driven economies. In many countries the telecommunications industry has always been seen as as strategic one and thus wwas in most cases completely in the hands of state-owned corporations. It is there fore inevitable that telecommuncations industries the world over have undergone or are undergoing dramatic transformations as governments give up, wholly or in part, ownership and control of the industry.