JC, physically, Australia is damn clsoe to continental USA in its size,
but we have less than 10% of your population and a much lower economic base. However, the legislation that's the problem goes back over a century to when the government decides to nationalise the telecommunications industry to be better able to control communications in an emergency - in those days it was only wireless and operator connected telephone. The laws have been amended slightly to suit changes since then, but they still retain overall control for the same basic reasons and because no bureaucrat will ever give up control on anything they have.