Communications and Information Policy
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate course on the technology and policy of public communications networks. Lectures and readings cover the rationales for government involvement in telecommunications and the interplay between technology, industry structure, and policy goals. Case studies pull from cellular, fixed-line, and Internet systems, including the evolution of spectrum policy and current reform proposals, the shift to broadband and its effect on universal service rules, and property rights over digital content. The course is designed to lay groundwork for thesis research in communications policy, so it leans on critical discussion of current debates and their historical roots rather than lecture-only delivery. Materials include the syllabus, readings, and assignments as published on MIT OpenCourseWare, free to access with no certificate offered.