When efficiency meets clientelism: Spectrum management policy and broadcasting model – The Spanish case

Abstract

According to the predominating discourse, the radio spectrum has been converted into a technological platform of strategic importance for the economic development of countries. Wireless Internet and the promises of access at ‘any time, in any place’ add political and economic pressure to a platform, which has been an almost exclusive monopoly of radio and television for years. The main aim of this article is to study the radio spectrum management in Spanish broadcasting from its origins until the present day. The article also seeks to show the existing relationship between how frequencies are managed and the resulting broadcast model.