Instead of flood of competition, the communications act brought a trickle
Article Abstract:
A year after the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 the promised decrease in rates and increase in competition as yet to occur. A number of industry experts site a faulty premise as a major cause behind the failure of the telecommunications bill. The assumption that the cable industry was ready and willing to compete in the telephone industry proved to be untrue, as the cable companies no longer were interested in the expensive upgrades or the technological difficulties such a move would require. In Aug 1996 the FCC decided that long-distance carriers were the solution for deregulation and forced the Bell companies to allow long-distance carriers and other competitors to have access to the Bell's local networks. In retaliation, the Bell companies sued the FCC, and GTE and other local carriers sued the states when they attempted the same thing.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1997
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Monopolies still rule the local phone markets
Article Abstract:
The Yankee group reports that less than half of a percent of Americans have their local phone serve supplied by a competitor to a monopoly provider. The study done by the Boston-based telecommunications research firm, puts forth that the large long-distance carriers, such as MCI and AT&T, are entering the residental market very grudgingly. The Yankee group predicts that by the year 2000, only 10% of the 97 million household in the US will be getting their service from a company other than the local monopoly. It was hoped that the long distance carriers would use reselling as a way to gain footing in the local market. However, reselling is not profitable enough for it to be realistically view as anything more than a stopgap measure.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1997
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