Regulators have increasingly adopted the practice of using general authorizations or establishing an open entry authorization regime for a number of good reasons. Most important, general authorizations and open entry regimes:
- eliminate individual differences in the treatment of service providers and create a level playing field;
- are more consistent with technological neutrality principles;
- are more consistent with open market entry policies;
- simplify the regulatory process;
- reduce regulatory and administrative costs;
- provide the regulator with greater flexibility to introduce changes to the licensing regime since the regulator does not need to negotiate the amendments of individual authorizations; and
- facilitate the introduction of industry-wide regulatory changes to reflect changing technologies and sector conditions (i.e. no need to amend individual authorizations).