Latin American governments face telecom challenge.(Third Annual Latin America Telecommunications Summit, Coral Gables, FL)(Industry Trend or Event)

MANY GOVERNMENTS in Latin America have liberalized their telecommunications markets by privatizing state telecommunications carriers and ending their monopolies. Now they must nurture competition through solid regulatory guidance, a big challenge throughout the region.

Consumers, corporations, and national economies in Latin America will be badly harmed, if governments let dominant carriers suffocate competitors, stifle technolog-ical innovation, and keep prices up.

That opinion was the consensus from host speakers at the Third Annual Latin American Telecommunications Summit held in Coral Gables, Fla.

"The results of deregulation in Latin America have been unbalanced. The emerging trend of protectionist regulations in some Latin American countries for former monopolies may hold back the emergence and consolidation of new telecommunications services, such as Internet telephony," said Cresencio Arcos, AT&T's regional vice president of international public affairs.

"Should these emerging technologies be stymied ... the result for Latin America could be irrevocable. The public-policy danger lies in creating a technological lag or regression for the region as a whole," Arcos added.

Dominant carriers worldwide hold a lot of political clout, because they are big -- and often very profitable -- …