Universal service in China and India: Legitimating the state?

• Facing similar problems, China and India produce contrasting policies.
• Government mandates more successful in China, than in India.
• India built a western-style universal service fund, but it remains underutilized.
• Both countries neglected household access, preferring area coverage.
• Policies in both countries are related to their strategies of state legitimation.

This paper examines the contrast between China's and India's universal service policies as manifestations of the two states' differing self-conceptualizations and legitimation strategies. We examine the timeline of universal service policies in the two countries, differentiating between the territorial, demographic and layered dimensions of universal service. The analysis reveals many similarities between the two countries, as well as some differences primarily related to the mode of funding universal service programs and the lead China has taken in deploying informatization services. We identify some of the proximate causes that resulted in these policy decisions. But in addition, we also examine how universal service policies are related to contrasting models of state legitimation.