International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

PROSPERING FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION: A PARTY BY 'INVITATION ONLY'

By Edward R. Leahy & Michael O'Brien

Download the Paper in PDF Format: IJCLP Web-Doc 12-4-2000

Abstract

It seems that not a week can pass without the announcement of yet another telecommunications mega-merger or cross-border joint venture. The authors assess the consolidation of the industry in the U.S. and Europe and discuss why such consolidation will lead inevitably to an industry dominated by "mega-firms" that control both the channels of communication and much of the content transmitted over them. Following this, they discuss why a future industry structured as such is highly susceptible to excluding the peoples of developing nations - and indeed the underprivileged and underserved of all nations - from the innumerable benefits (social, health, economic, political, experiential) that devolve from significant advances in telecommunications technology. Finally, Leahy and O'Brien talk about ways in which the governments of developed and developing nations can reduce the harmful and exclusionary effects of an industry left to its own devices.