Archives:The Centre National d'Etude des Telecommunications and the Competitiveness of French Telephone Industry, 1945-1980
Abstract
The control of telecommunications is a central stake that largely determines the balance of power among nations. In 1950, France was completely dependent on foreign companies to equip its telephone network. French companies were mainly subsidiaries of ITT and, through lack of funds, the network was old and inefficient. The subsequent quest for competitiveness has to be analyzed as a fundamental chapter of the history of French industry, but it also constitutes part of a wider evolution included in the context presented by Stanley Hoffmann as "... the eternal drama of the relations between the French and their government."
Citation and Link
Pascal Griset, "The Centre National d'Etude des Telecommunications and the Competitiveness of French Telephone Industry, 1945-1980," in Technological Competitiveness: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives on Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Industries (Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1993), 176-187.
