The form of an authorization depends on the national legal regime. In most countries, authorizations comprise only one element of the regulatory framework. Other rules that govern service providers are included in ICT sector policies, laws, regulations, decrees, orders, decisions, guidelines, directions and other regulatory documents. The authorization trends section of this module described the trend in developed economies away from detailed individual authorizations and towards the development of regulations of general application to the ICT sector.
Two factors generally determine whether a service provider’s rights and obligations are set out in an authorization or in other regulatory documents: requirements of local law and the level of development of the local regulatory framework. Due to differences in these requirements, the same rights and obligations that are dealt with in authorizations in some countries are addressed through general regulations in others.