If Prince leaves, God help us

The Telecommunications Act demands that TATT drives the mobile telephone industry towards a competitive environment. Had Prince said otherwise about interconnection rates he would have been laughed out of the next conference he attends by his learned colleagues in utility economics. Though the two providers may have differing average incremental interconnection and opportunity costs a competitive environment would force the rates charged to be equal, or, one provider would lose customers unless other barriers to competitiveness were established. I have discussed this in previous contributions to the Press.

What is almost unbelievable is that this fundamental law of the sale of services between providers in a competitive environment was put up for arbitration. Since non-reciprocity would violate the conceptual framework of the Act, all that was necessary was a ruling by TATT, possibly advised by its economic consultants. But is this not why they employed Dr Prince? The bizarre part of this fiasco is that in part, one of our internationally recognised utility economists has been chastised for simply quoting one of the truths of his profession. God help us if he really has left TATT.