Nothing short of the success of competition is at stake in these decisions. Hungary is in good company. Governments around the world at first questioned whether to embrace competition, and whether to set up an independent regulator, but gradually the dialogue has changed from whether to when and how. The numbers bear this out. In 1990, twelve nations had independent telecommunications regulators.
Today there are ninety-three.
In 1995, fewer than twenty countries had even one competitive telecommunications market. In each case, we chose regional leaders whose example inspires neighboring nations to pursue the principles of the Initiative, and that certainly is the case with Hungary. Once again, Hungary is at the crossroads of important advancements in civilization, strategically linking Eastern and Western Europe, and Northern and Southern Europe, and serving as an example to all. Universal Access With nine nations serving as catalysts for regional change, we can set to work expanding one of the core features of a successful competitive telecommunications system, and that is universal access. There are two principal reasons we should do this.