New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of                  their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are                  no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced                  communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the                  illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world                  peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to                  play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological                  advance is likely to be modest.The limitations of new technologies are often not                  inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic                  constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in                  the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the                  skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book                  examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect                  the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include                  Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in                  communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of                  universal service.

Communications Policy and Information Technology: Promises, Problems, Prospects (Telecommunications Policy Research Conference) PDF

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