Three indicators of regulatory independence are the stability of ...
Three indicators of regulatory independence are the stability of its leadership, scope of its authority and the independence of its funding, a working paper released by the FCC International Bureau said. The paper, called “Traits of an Independent Communications…
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Regulator: A Search for Indicators” by the Bureau’s Irene Wu, is the first in a Working Paper Series announced by the Bureau Thurs. It said “good indicators” of the regulator’s independence from other government organizations included: (1) An agency leader with a guaranteed term of office, who couldn’t be dismissed for unpopular decisions. (2) Funding independent of political review. (3) A scope of authority distinct from the govt. policy-making agency. It said measures of independence from the industry included whether the incumbent operators were privately owned and whether there was frequent exchange of staff between the regulator and the regulated industry. Indicators of the regulator’s responsiveness to consumer interests include whether there are offices dedicated to consumer affairs and to universal service issues, it said. The paper said since 1990, the number of independent regulatory authorities had grown to 119 from 13, with many countries committing to establishing independent regulators as part of compliance with the WTO’s Basic Telecom Agreement -- www.fcc.gov/ib.