8

**<u>Table 3: Performance vs. reform in 2003 – Averages for different country groups</u>**

||**(sta**<br>|**ndard deviatio**<br>|**Mean**<br>**n, number of o**<br>|**bservations)**<br>|<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**(1)**|**(2)**|**(3)**|**(4)**|**(5)**|
||**Without IRA**<br>**Without PRIV**|**With IRA**<br>**Without PRIV**|**Without IRA**<br>**With PRIV**|**With IRA**<br>**With PRIV**|**All**<br>**countries**|
|**_Telephone Subscribers/ 1000 people in..._**||||||
|<br>Developing|181<br>|191<br>|226<br>|412<br>|290<br>|
||(158,16)|(214,30)|(205,10)|(367,46)|(300,115)|
|Developed|960<br>|1049<br>|1171<br>|1360<br>|1277<br>|
||(272,2)|(378,2)|(254,5)|(175,20)|(276,36)|
|All countries|268<br>|245<br>|541<br>|700<br>|526<br>|
||(300,18)|(303,32)|(508,15)|(543,66)|(514,151)|
|**_Price of Local Phone Call in..._**||||||
|Developing|87<br>|95<br>|58<br>|60<br>|75<br>|
||(138,9)|(147,21)|(68,4)|(97,37)|(114,84)|
|Developed|0|6|0.9|6|5|
||(na,1)|(na,1)|(1,2)|(3,12)|(5,20)|
|All countries|78|91|39|47|62|
||(133,10)|(145,22)|(60,6)|(87,49)|(106,104)|
|**_Annual Residential Subscription Fee in..._**<br>Developing|630<br>|464<br>|253<br>|392<br>|499<br>|
||(577,10)|(364,19)|(212,3)|(410,38)|(533,84)|
|Developed|57|99|91|83|79|
||(na,1)|(na,1)|(65,2)|(32,14)|(32,22)|
|All countries|578|446|188|309|412|
||(574,11)|(363,20)|(177,5)|(376,52)|(504,106)|
|**_Annual Business Subscription Fee in..._**||||||
|Developing|830|650|438|629|759|
||(706,10)|(533,19)|(310,3)|(633,37)|(726,83)|
|Developed|132|99|134|94|97|
||(na,1)|(na,1)|(95,2)|(32,12)|(41,20)|
|All countries|767|623|316|498|630|
||(703,11)|(534,20)|(279,5)|(596,49)|(702,103)|
|**_Phone Faults in..._**||||||
|Developing|64|26|53|27|38|
||(47,6)|(32,10)|(na,1)|(25,16)|(39,39)|
|Developed|4|..|23|21|17|
||(na,1)|..|(na,1)|(30,9)|(23,16)|
|All countries|55|26|38|24|32|
||(49,7)|(32,10)|(21,2)|(26,25)|(36,55)|
|**_Mainlines per Employee in..._**||||||
|Developing|66|107|110|108|98|
||(31,10)|(87,9)|(66,3)|(63,16)|(70,43)|
|Dld||146|441|192|215|
|eveope|..|||||
||..|(43,2)|(120,2)|(50,10)|(96,19)|
|All countries|66|114|242|141|134|
||(31,10)|(80,11)|(197,5)|(71,26)|(95,62)|

Source: Own calculations using ITU data. Countries were classified in developing and developed according to their 2001 GNI per capita. - Coverage for 2003 is not as good as the one for previous years. Thus, for some groups samples are too small to draw significant conclusions. - na means not applicable. Used when there is only one observation in the group, which makes impossible to calculate the standard deviation. - IRA refers to independent regulatory agency, and priv refers to the existence of private capital. - The price of a 3-min local call is expressed in 2000 US cents/10,000 GDPpc; while annual subscription fees are expressed in 2000 US dollars/10,000 GDP pc. - Phone faults correspond to reported faults per 100 mainlines.

# **4. THE EVIDENCE ON THE IMPACT OF TELECOM REFORMS**

The two main reform policies covered in this paper have already been at the center of most of the cross-country analyses of telecom performance. Before presenting the new results derived from more recent observations, it may be useful to cover in some detail the main lessons from the existing literature.

The first consideration that comes to mind is that, simply because the time elapsed since the reforms has been rather short, most of these earlier results can often be viewed as a first cut at early stages of reform or as the short-term impact of reform. The