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Abstract

In October 1987, over 750 exhibitors displayed the latest in telecommunications technology at the TELECOM 87 Exhibition in Geneva. A year later, also in Geneva, representatives of up to 162 nations will gather at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to complete the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) on the use of the geostationary satellite orbit (ORB-85) that began in August 1985.

The two events underline the extent to which international telecommunications is at the same time big business (global sales of telecommunications equipment and services were over US$325 billion in 1986) and high politics. It is at events such as these that the struggle for world economic and political power is made visible. The buyers at TELECOM deciding which technologies are suitable to meet their investment plans, and the negotiators at Space WARC deciding how to manage access to the geostationary orbit, represent the key players in the battle to shape the future of international telecommunications.

Who are these key players in international telecommunications? What roles in determining policy are played by governments, by telecommunications authorities, by business users, by the military, and by domestic consumers? Which countries and which social groups are likely to benefit from current trends in telecommunications? Will the needs of the Third World be met? What are the possibilities of building a more equitable international telecommunications system?

This issue of TRENDS highlights the main changes in the world of international telecommunications, reviews some major studies of how policy is made and makes some suggestions for research.

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