Soviet and Postsoviet Telecommunications : An Industry under Reform

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR constitutes a vital infrastructure for a modern society. It is part of the working mechanism of a decentralized, flexible, and dynamic market economy. It also serves as the foundation for a pluralistic political system with a government accountable to the public. The crucial role of communications is increased by synergistic interaction between globalization of economic processes and the continuing technical revolution in information processing and communication. One of the most revealing indicators of the inability of the old Soviet system to attain its goal of matching the performance of the advanced market economies was its neglect of telecommunications. The sector was always treated as an orphan, devalued because, in line with a peculiar Marxian notion, it was not considered part of "material production" 1 and was starved of attention and resources.