Lords of the Parallel Universe

The Mass Communications Congress was held in Sydney in 1969. It declared that the airwaves belong to the people, and broadcasters and other radio spectrum users were leasees, with a duty of care and responsibilities to the owners, that is, you and me. The government's role was to manage and regulate on our behalf, to ensure efficient use of the spectrum, and to minimise interference. There was just one radio spectrum and it was publicly owned and managed. So it was, until the development of the new technologies, and in particular, the fibre optical cable. Each optical cable, theoretically at least, can carry the entire radio spectrum. Each cable is a parellel universe of communications, though dependent on a capital and technology infrastructure, accessible only to those who can pay, and not subject to public management.