Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services
Mcgill-queen's University Press
Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
Telecom Nation
Telecommunications, Computers, and Governments in Canada
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2001
About this book
Laurence Mussio examines how federal and provincial public policy tried to keep pace with the diffusion of telecommunications, consumer demand, and a rising tide of technological innovation. Telecommunications regulation struggled to maintain a balance between producer and consumer in an increasingly complex field and policy makers were compelled to defend the national interest in international telecommunications arrangements or by making far-reaching decisions about transcontinental microwave systems and satellites. By the late 1960s national policy makers had embraced the arrival of the computer - especially once it began to be wired into Canada's communications infrastructure. Telecom Nation explores the impact of the computer on government policy and the first attempts to build a "national computer utility" - the beginnings of the Internet - twenty-five years before it became a reality. Based primarily on the rich and largely untapped sources at the National Archives of Canada, Cabinet records, provincial archives, and private sector repositories, Telecom Nation provides an essential background to contemporary public policy issues by examining how governments reconciled technological change, private enterprise, consumer demand, and the public good in communications. It will be required reading for students and specialists interested in telecommunications, public policy, and technological change.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Laurence B. Mussio
Laurence B. Mussio is a senior business historian, consultant, and strategic advisor to senior executives in finance, technology and government. He is the co-founder of the Long Run Initiative. He lives in Toronto.
Reviews
"Telecom Nation makes an important contribution to telecommunications history in Canada." Jean-Guy Rens, author of The Invisible Empire: A History of the Telecommunications Industry in Canada, 1846B1956
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Front Matter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Acknowledgments
ix -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Introduction
3 - The Technological Imperative
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
From Golden Age to Iron Cage: Telecommunications Regulation and the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada, 1945–1966
13 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Connecting Canada to the World: International Telecommunications Policy, 1942–1965
47 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Canadians and Computers: Initial Canadian Responses to the Computer, 1948–1968
70 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Revolution and Reaction: Telecommunications Policy, 1960–1969
89 - System Overload
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Collapse and Surrender: Telecommunications Regulation and the Canadian Transport Commission, 1967–1975
117 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Politics of Technological Development: Canada, 1970–1975
154 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
“Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?” Ottawa and the First Information Highway, 1969–1975
189 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Conclusion
222 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Appendix: Tables
229 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes
249 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Bibliography
279 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
299
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
July 12, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780773569140
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
328
eBook ISBN:
9780773569140
Audience(s) for this book
For universities and colleges of further and higher education
