Our digital world is increasingly mobile. All mobile communication rests upon access to one invisible, essential element: the radio spectrum. In Frequencies Gregory Taylor and Catherine Middleton bring together diverse national perspectives to explore the current and future state of spectrum governance worldwide. Spectrum is a foundational component of our contemporary communication infrastructure. The stakes are massive: mobile network operators have invested billions of dollars via national spectrum auctions to claim exclusive use of prime spectrum bands. Despite this windfall for national governments, many people around the globe remain disconnected from mobile service, yet international policy comparisons that can help us understand these disparities and differences are rare. Frequencies offers illuminating case studies from around the world, including Finland, Mexico, New Zealand, India, and Canada, as well as forward-thinking approaches to our use of radio frequencies that encourage greater public benefit and technological advancement. The contributors to Frequencies represent a wide array of disciplinary backgrounds, united by the common goal of maximizing the value and access to the public good that is the radio spectrum. Spectrum policy affects everyone, whether while listening to the radio, making an emergency phone call, or scrolling through social media updates. Frequencies seeks to broaden the discussion about our management of this primary resource necessary for how the world shares information.

Gregory Taylor is assistant professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Film at the University of Calgary and author of Shut Off: The Canadian Digital Television Transition.

Gregory Taylor's profile page

Catherine Middleton is professor in the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and co-editor of Management of Broadband Technology Innovation: Policy, Deployment and Use.

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"Frequencies casts a broad interdisciplinary lens on the site where radio spectrum marks the hot spot of national development, industrial and economic competitions, and deliberations over public goods and services. Striking a balance between technical knowledge and practical information, the book offers a helpful guide for anyone wishing to better understand the infrastructure that makes today's life online possible." Choice