International comparisons of telecommunication charges

This article aims to expose the limitations of existing methods by which international comparisons of telecommunications charges are made. Existing methods are distorted by many variables which vary from country to country. Consequently, results still need to be qualitatively debated on grounds of factors such as demography, economic climate and advances in technology. In this article, many of the factors which can contribute to observed differences between countries are discussed. Within this multitude of variables it is possible to operate on a reduced set of the most important variables, and by the technique of multiple linear regression arrive at a regression equation which accounts for observed differences with a high level of significance. Sample results are presented for Australia. However, the importance of the contribution lies in the methodology and its portability between countries.