Dhanaraj Thakur, Technology Policy and Distributional

Introduction As with most other information and communication technologies, the mobile phone has come to be perceived as a necessary accessory of modern life. In fact wireless communication technologies such as mobile phones have diffused faster globally than previous communications technologies (Castells et al., 2007). Along with this rapid diffusion are associated impacts on society. The question that we are concerned with in this paper is what are the distributional consequences of the production and diffusion of mobile phones in a developed country such as Canada. There are three reasons for the focus on this particular technology. First, it is pervasive enough to be relevant to a wide variety of sectors in society. Second, the technology is mature enough to look at policy interventions over time while still evolving so as to allow us to consider effects in the future. Third, the focus on mobile phones will allow further comparisons and analysis with countries with similar socio-economic characteristics.