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Literature Review: Universal Service Obligation

Universal Service Obligation has traditionally been envisioned as an obligation on private telecommunications service providers to provide basic voice services on fixed-line local loops at reasonable prices. In the recent past, this concept has widened in scope to keep pace with advancement in technology and consumer expectations. The present study presents a literature review of the vast number of papers written in this continuously evolving field of Universal Service Obligation with the objective of consolidating the learnings thus far and to identify gaps in the literature for future research. The paper is structured in the following manner. First, the definition of Universal Service Obligation (USO) is discussed from various legislations in prominent jurisdictions. Next, papers evaluating the various components of USO are reviewed. Next, papers analysing the economic and socio-political rationale for having a USO policy are discussed. Next, papers regarding funding and allocation of USO funds are discussed. Finally, empirical papers evaluating the success of USO are summarised. For each of the sections, gaps in the literature that need further research are identified.