Telecommunications Deregulation and Privatisation in the Czech Republic and Australia: A Comparative Study of Česky Telecom and Telstra

Abstract

This paper examines and compares the deregulation and privatisation of telecommunications in Australia and the Czech Republic. It considers how management at the incumbent telecommunications companies (TelCos), Telstra and Česky Telecom (ČT) responded to this changing environment. This included changing approaches to employment relations (ER) practices at both firms as they sort to reduce costs within more competitive environments. By comparing Telstra and ČT this paper considers the extent to which historical factors associated with the former socialist system have constrained and/or influenced ČT's strategies vis-à-vis its Western based counterpart. It concludes that by 2005 telecommunications sector specific factors appeared to have a greater influence on ČT's strategies than its historical context.