America's Stake in European Telecommunication Policies

Changes within European telecommunication systems have been analyzed by the author with the purpose of exploring the social, political, and economic conditions that will determine the emergence of a new continental communication infrastructure by 1992. Alfred L. Thimm examines the commonly neglected institutional factors that have shaped the different responses of British, French, and German political and economic elites to both technological changes and the European Community's telecommunication strategy. The concepts of political economy are applied to explore the views and vested interests of adversaries in the intense struggle over the reform of the telecommunication systems in these key countries. Thimm briefly reviews the historical and political roots of the telecommunication administrations in Great Britain, France, and Germany, and the technological and political events that have undermined existing institutions. He emphasizes the national importance of telecommunication as a strategic industry and its vital role as an integral part of the integrated European infrastructure. He considers the strategic role of technical standards as a device that simultaneously harmonizes European networks and serves as a marketing obstacle to non-European enterprises. The winners and losers in the struggle to adapt European telecom policy to new technological and political conditions are clearly identified.