Practice of Telecom Regulation and Governance

Improve Your Skills in Decision-Making and Accountability

Learn how to navigate the rules and practices of telecom regulation with our expert-led course which breaks down the essentials of regulatory frameworks, accountability, and effective decision-making.

You will gain practical knowledge about how telecom policies are designed and implemented across different countries, helping you to manage and lead in the telecom industry with confidence.

The aim of this class is to introduce students to the practices of telecom regulators for enhancing their decision-making efficiency and accountability.

The course is designed to provide students with analytical tools to understand the interactions between regulators and other institutions forming the contemporary telecom governance systems (also in developing countries). The international dimension of telecom regulatory governance is also taken into account.

Unlike other courses on the subject, the class is not a mere overview of concepts and theories of regulation but provides a coherent framework for understanding regulatory practices through the lenses of organisational design and policy evaluation.

This course is run by the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

Upcoming Courses

October 2025

Residential – University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Dates: TBC October 2025

£2,250 per delegate, including breakfasts and lunches (excluding accommodation)

Additional residential package available, which includes five nights accommodation (Sunday to Thursday), breakfast and dinner for £650 at AC by Mariott close to the campus

Practice of Telecom Regulation and Governance Class Outline

Item
Day 1: Institutional and organisational features of independent regulatory agencies

  • Why and how telecom regulators are independent?
  • How much can they do in autonomy? And what explain the variation of their autonomy?
  • What institutional and organisational forms IRA usually take?
Day 2: Practices of accountability

  • Accountability to Parliament through annual report
  • Accountability to executive
  • Accountability to general public through consultation
Day 3: How are telecom regulatory agencies evaluated?

  • What makes an independent regulatory agency effective in regulating telecom markets?
  • What are the best practices of good independent regulatory agencies as promoted by the OECD and the World Bank?
  • Good governance standards to avoid revolving doors, lobbying captures, etc.
Day 4: How do telecom regulatory agencies make decisions?

  • Regulatory impact assessment
  • Competition assessment
  • Consultation and public participation
  • Judicial review
Day 5: International regulatory networks

  • How do regulatory networks work, and what are their characteristics and rationales?

Course Trainer

Dr Fabrizio De Francesco
Dr Fabrizio De Francesco
Fabrizio joined the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde in 2012.

Before moving to Glasgow he was a Marie Curie postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich and a Premier Assistant at the Institut d’études politiques et internationales, University of Lausanne. He completed his PhD at the University of Exeter in 2010.

A revised version of his PhD thesis on policy diffusion has been published by the ECPR press. Focusing on regulatory impact as a case study, this book shows how the OECD transnational networks have framed and diffused such a policy innovation, but there is a limited extent of policy interdependence in the implementation and evaluation stages.

Get Started

To discuss booking or accommodation options, or to ask any questions you have, schedule a 15 minute Zoom call with Steve.

Simply select a date and time from the calendar below to start.