Global telecommunication standards -- who needs them?

Abstract

The spread of global telecommunications throughout the world is having a profound impact on international trade and politics. International events are unfolding in many communications forms, no longer only television and radio broadcasting. Electronic mail systems, facsimile, satellite news-gathering directly to the home and data services are playing major roles in the global witnessing of international events. If global standards were in place, even more sophisticated systems such as B-ISDN and HDTV would also be available to the public; but can we wait for internationally agreed solutions to the development of these standards or is the competitive development of new de facto standards the answer to the spread of new telecommunications technology? This Comment explores both sides of the issue in the light of radical restructuring proposals in the ITU and ISO.