Trends in Telecommunications Strategic Alliance Regulation

In market economies, competition is viewed as a positive force which can effectively increases the welfare of consumers. Most countries adopting a market-based economic system have competition laws in place to ensure and promote competition. The essential elements of a competition law, common to most national varieties, are regulation of monopoly or oligopoly, regulation of mergers, prohibition of unfair trade practices and prohibition of cartels. The ultimate goal of this body of law is to guarantee effective competition in the market. Meanwhile, starting from the 1990s, we have been witnessing worldwide the practice known as `strategic alliance´ among market competitors gaining ground at an accelerating pace. The question facing competition authorities in countries around the world is therefore whether strategic alliances are a phenomenon that needs to be regulated by the government. In this paper, we review some countries. And we try to draw a reasonable regulation direction for the telecommunications strategic alliance regulation