Regulation of the telecommunications industry has traditionally focused on the supply side of the industry, chiefl y the retail segment of the market. Since liberalization of the industry has begun, regulation has gradually shifted to the wholesale segment of the market. The regulatory agencies have intervened to regulate access and facilitate entry and, hopefully, investment in infrastructure. This asymmetric regulation has had mixed results. As an answer to that some regulatory agencies have abandoned wholesale regulation (the case of the USA) and some others have shifted from light- handed regulation to heavy- handed regulation with mandatory unbundling of the local loop (the case of Australia). Other regulatory agencies have moved.
