The proceduralization of telecommunications law

The trend towards ever more technical regulatory regimes associated with the reform of telecommunicaitons provision and regulation in the industrialised countries appears to be reversing itself, as changes across a number of jurisdictions occur which may be loosely characterized as a process of proceduralization. These changes have three facets: a shift towards more general regulatory norms; greater emphasis on procedural, as opposed to substantive, regulatory rules; and greater reliance on regulatory institutions of a general rather than sector-specific character. Explanations are offered not simply by reference to the external pressures, but also the adapation of the legal system itself.