Jill Hills picks up from her pathbreaking study The Struggle for Control of Global Communication: The Formative Century to continue her examination of the political, technological, and economic forces at work in the global telecommunications market from World War II to the World Trade Organization agreement of 1997. In the late twentieth century, focus shifted from the creation and development of global communication markets to their intense regulation. The historical framework behind this control—where the market was regulated, by what institution, controlled by what power, and to whose benefit—masterfully complements Hills's analysis of power relations within the global communications arena.

Hills documents attempts by governments to direct, replace, and bypass international telecommunications institutions. As she shows, the results have offered indirect control over foreign domestic markets, government management of private corporations, and government protection of its own domestic communication market. Hills reveals that the motivation behind these powerful, regulatory efforts on person-to-person communication lies in the unmatched importance of communication in the world economy.

As ownership of communications infrastructure becomes more valuable, governments have scrambled to shape international guidelines. Hills provides insight into struggles between U.S. policymakers and the rest of the world, illustrating the conflict between a growing telecommunications empire and sovereign states that are free to implement policy changes. Freshly detailing the interplay between U.S. federal regulation and economic power, Hills fosters a deep understanding of contemporary systems of power in global communications.

| Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. Opening Up the British Empire 2. Satellites and U.S. Unilateral Regulation 3. International Market Structure and the ITU 4. Markets and Membership: The Restructuring of the ITU 5. The World Bank and Privatization 6. GATT/WTO and Telecommunications Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index Back cover |

"The best single source for tracing much of the global communication developments of the last 170 years."—Communication Research Trends

"A nuanced history of the nitty-gritty construction and maintenance of global markets of a pivotally important industry during the latter half of the twentieth century."—Journal of American History

"Hills has produced a truly impressive study. It is thoroughly researched, drawing on untapped documentary sources as well as secondary references. . . . It is a tremendous achievement."—European Journal of Communication

|Jill Hills is a professor at the University of Westminster. Her books include Deregulating Telecoms: Competition and Control in the United States, Japan and Britain and The Struggle for Control of Global Communication: The Formative Century.