studies

This page points to studies of the ITU, global telecommunications policy coordination and standards development.

It is under construction. We'll be adding more information shortly. 

     the organisation

The major studies are Gerd Wallenstein's Setting Global Telecommunications Standards (Norwood: Artech 90) and The ITU In A Changing World (Dedham: Artech 88) by George Codding & Anthony Rutkowski, building on Codding's The International Telecommunications Union: An Experiment in International Cooperation (New York: Arno 72). 

The Politics of International Telecommunications Regulation (Boulder: Westview 89) by James Savage and The CCIF & the Development of International Telephony, 1923-1956 (Geneva: ITU 76) by Robert Chapuis explore pre-web challenges.

Other perspectives are provided by From National Hierarchies to International Standardization:Modal Changes in the Governance of Telecommunications (PDF) by Philipp Genschel & Raymund Werle, International Telecommunication Standards Organizations (Norwood: Artech 90) by Andrew Macpherson and Coordinating Technology: Studies in the International Standardization of Telecommunications (Cambridge: MIT Press 97) by Suzanne Schmidt & Raymund Werle. Werle's 2001 Standards in the International Telecommunications Regime (PDF) may also be of interest.

When Countries Talk: International Trade in Telecommunications Services (Cambridge: Ballinger 89) by Jonathan Aronson & Peter Cowhey and Mark Alleyne's International Power & International Communication (London: Macmillan 95) consider economic and geopolitical aspects.

Edward Comer edited The Global Political Economy of Communication: Hegemony, Telecommunications & the Information Economy (New York: St Martin's 94), arguing that the web and satellite broadcasting are the latest iterations of traditional communication conflicts. 

Technology has promised the abolition of distance and the globalisation of everyday life. Twice before - in 1865 with the creation of the International Telegraph Union and in 1906 with the creation of the Radiotelegraphy Union - international agreement to encourage and then to regulate new international communication technologies have marked the beginning of generation-long conflicts over the boundaries of new, larger (but certainly less-than-global) economic orders.

There's a more positive account in European Telecommunications Liberalisation (London: Routledge 99) edited by Kjell Eliassen & Marit Sjøvaag and The International Politics of Telecommunications (Berkeley: UC Institute of International Studies 87) by David Blatherwick.

     global standards organisations

For an intelligent introduction see Constructing World Culture: International NonGovernmental Organizations Since 1875 (Stanford, Stanford Uni Press 99), a collection of essays edited by John Boli, in The Politics of Global Governance: International Organizations in an Interdependent World (Boulder: Rienner 01) edited by Paul Diehl and Autonomous Policy-Making By International Organisations (London: Routledge 99) edited by Bob Reinalda. 

For standards organisations and global policymaking see An Introduction to Standards and Standardization (Berlin: Beuth 96) edited by Wilfried Hesser & Alex Inklaar and A World of Standards (Oxford: Oxford Uni Press 00) edited by Nils Brunsson & Bengt Jacobsson.

Another view is offered in Governing Global Networks: International Regimes for Transportation & Communications (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni Press 96) by Mark Zacher & Brent Sutton, Changing the Rules: Technological change, International Competition & Regulation in Communications (Washington: Brookings 89) edited by Robert Crandall & Kenneth Flamm and Standards Policy for Information Infrastructure (Cambridge, MIT Press 95) edited by Janet Abbate & Brian Kahin as part of the excellent Harvard Information Infrastructure Project. Scaffolding the New Web: Standards & Standards Policy for the Digital Economy (Santa Monica: RAND 00) by Martin Libicki & David Frelinger is more provocative.

We've pointed to works such as Coordinating the Internet (Cambridge: MIT Press 97) edited by Brian Kahin & James Keller, Interconnecting The Network of Networks (Cambridge: MIT Press 01) by Eli Noam, Shaping Standardisation: A Study of Standards Processes and Standards Policies in the field of telematic services (Delft: Delft Uni Press 96) by Tineke Egyedi and the 1998 paper An Analysis of Internet Standardization by Marcus Maher in our Network & the GII guide.

     historical perspectives

Historical perspectives are provided in

Peter Hughill's Global Communications Since 1844: Geopolitics & Technology (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni Press 99)

The Carrier Wave: New Information Technology & the Geography of Innovation, 1846-2003 (London: Unwin Hyman 88) by Peter Hall & Paschal Preston

Brian Winston's Media Technology & Society: A History from the Telegraph to the Internet (London: Routledge 99)

Carolyn Marvin's When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communications in the Late 19th Century (New York: Oxford Uni Press 90)

William Dutton's Information & Communication Technologies: Visions & Realities (Oxford: Oxford Uni Press 96)

Daniel Headrick's The Invisible Weapon: Telecommunications & International Politics 1851-1945 (Oxford: Oxford Uni Press 91)

We have pointed to other works, in particular studies of the telecommunications industries and their impact in particular countries, in the Communications Revolutions profile on this site.

     ITU-watching

In contrast to ICANN, which has featured in dot-lifestyle magazines such as Salon or Wired and is tracked by sites such as ICANNWatch, the ITU has attracted little attention among the wider community.

A view from inside the belly of the beast is provided by Robert Shaw's blog.




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