Telecommunication Development Problems of the 1980s

Telecommunications are almost the ideal subject when studying the impacts of innovations. They are a long established branch of industry and services, with strong new innovations tunneling through many intercompany, interindustry, and even international barriers and frontiers. They also have strong societal impacts and may streamline the way-of-life. Telecommunications have strong interindustry relations and are becoming an important component of modern state infrastructure. All this presents a decision maker or policy designer on a national and/or international level with puzzling problems and alternatives. This paper depicts some of the factors that play a major role in coping with the problems of telecommunications development on national and international levels. The author's observations are based on long experience in practice, both in a private telecommunications firm and in international bodies working in this field. The concise treatment of the topic can be a good introduction into the policy problems of telecommunications.