The selling of 3G licences raised over £20bn in the UK – which the Chancellor decided could be used to pay off some of the national debt. In other European countries the process of selling the licences took different forms, but in nearly all cases, huge amounts of cash went from the phone companies to governments.

Jon Agar, outlines the background in ‘Constant Touch – A Global History of the Mobile Phone’.

And he confirms the necessity to create addictive cultural phenomena.

“The success of third generation mobile phones depends on the unknowable willingness of the public to buy them, and without good content – in the form of addictive entertainment or really useful services – a repitition of WAP debacle was possible…”

Presumably one of the reasons why ‘voting’ for reality TV shows and ever new forms of gambling are becoming so ubiquitous. Amongst other thigns, they generate money for phone companies.

Ah, and I thought voting in Big Brother was somehow saying something important in an ironic post-modern way.