Winning the Silicon Sweepstakes: Can the United States Compete in Global Telecommunications? [Hardcover]

Rob Frieden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2010

In this timely book, Rob Frieden points out the many ways the United States has fallen behind other countries in telecommunications and broadband development. Despite the appearance of robust competition and entrepreneurism in U.S. markets, there is very little of either. Because of an inattentive Congress and a misguided FCC unwilling to confront real problems, industry incumbents can earn healthy profits while keeping the United States in the backwaters of Internet-based information, communication, and entertainment markets. At every turn, regulators have tipped the scales in favor of large established companies, creating an environment that stifles innovation. As a consequence, Americans are stuck with relatively slow connectivity and with equipment that lacks features that have been staples in other countries for years. In telecommunications, the United States is a little like a third world country that is developing under crushing bureaucracies without recognizing that the rest of the world has passed it by. Professor Frieden not only shows how failure can intrude on the ability of the United States to compete but suggests how to restore its competitiveness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In a time of dramatic change in telecommunications and information, this book provides a practical guide to the most important stakeholders, issues, problems and options now and in the near future.  The questions discussed so clearly here will impact everyone."—Christopher Sterling, Professor of Media and Public Affairs and of Public Policy and Public Administration, The George Washington University

 

(Christopher Sterling )

“In this comprehensive and compelling book, Rob Frieden explains how market and regulatory failure in US broadband policy has left the US lagging its more successful peers. He explains cogently and concisely what needs to be done to recover this situation. He is as ever masterful in explaining the subtle and not-so-subtle misdesigns of law and policy for Internet connectivity. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what''s really gone wrong in US communications policy in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and how to go about fixing it.”—Christopher Marsden, Senior Lecturer. Director of LLM in Information Technology Media and E-commerce, University of Essex

 

(Christopher Marsden )

"Rob Frieden is one of the most thoughtful, thorough people working on these issues today. He comes with a fine eye for detail, a trained mind, and no financial interest to sway his opinions. Anyone who cares about our digital future needs to wake up and pay attention to what he''s saying."—Harold Feld, Legal Director, Public Knowledge

 

(Harold Feld )

"Rob Frieden is one of the best informed, thoughtful, and prolific analysts of the American media landscape. In this brilliant book, Frieden identifies the causes and dynamics that have caused the U.S. to lose its traditional international pre-eminence in the digital realm. He traces the impact of governmental dogmatism and stakeholder gridlock as the drivers of America’s fall from digital grace. To remedy this situation, this book aims to first raise the digital literacy of consumers, both in the marketplace and in the political sphere."—Eli Noam, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia University Business School, and Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information

 

(Eli Noam )

About the Author

Rob Frieden is Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law at Pennsylvania State University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300152132
• ISBN-13: 978-0300152135
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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