Sustainable economic growth requires an interplay between all domains of a country’s structural organisation – that is, its politics, its economy, and its society. Government and regulatory policy need to take account of all of these domains for it to be optimal. However, in several important areas, these interconnections are not accounted for – this is particularly true when looking at the current spectrum policy of various countries.

In the developed world this has resulted in the widening of the digital divide; in the developing world it has resulted in unsuccessful spectrum award outcomes – with direct consequences for the economic growth of these countries. In this paper we explore the need for a holistic spectrum policy that caters to all parts of a country’s structural organisation, and acknowledges that politics, economics, and society work hand in hand and not in silos or against each other.