ABSTRACT
Eric John Abrahamson is a historian of the United States. More specifically, he works on the American history of technological innovations. Abrahamson’s academic trajectory implies a fundamental question: Is there anything more “American” than the quest for technological progress? Of course, Abrahamson is not alone in tracking technological development in the United States. Another Americanist scholar, Leo Marx (2000), is also a reference in the investigation of the role that technology has played in the cultural constitution of this nation. For Marx, the social fabric of “America” was sewn from the idea of creating a new Garden, a new Jerusalem, one in which technology would be an ally for harnessing natural resources. Unlike Marx, however, Abrahamson’s paradise is not composed of train tracks and steam machines from the nineteenth century, but invisible networks of communication. Moreover, it is a Garden that is not ruled by a divine will, but regulated by a ubiquitous entity: the State. In short, Abrahamson is interested in the action of regulatory systems on the technological development of mobile communication in the United States. A basic question moved the author’s investigation: Why did it take so long for
cellular service to go from an idea to commercial reality when the seeds of mobile technology were already available and, no less important, when there were also ready financial resources to invest in such innovation? In this chapter, Abrahamson explores how the development and commerciali-
zation of cellular telephone technology in the United States reflects a coevolution of technology and regulation. He addresses the history of mobile telephony to explore the political economy of the United States between 1945 and 1984, highlighting the behavior of four primary actors in the development of mobile service in the United States: AT&T, Motorola, a group of entrepreneurs known as
“Radio Common Carriers,” and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Abrahamson tells an epic story in which State bureaucracy plays a key role in the development of cellular infrastructure in America. We learn here that, unlike any other country, the development of mobile communications in the United States unveils a “really fascinating case in the history of regulation” and, of course, democracy.
