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Originally published in 1992. This text is a work from a series entitled ' Bureaucracies, Public Administration and Public Policy. The Politics of Telecommunication regulation: The States and the Divestiture of AT&T is an example of high-quality policy analysis conducted at state level. It substitutes for simple theories of public policy more complex and interesting explanations and relies on massive and time-consuming data-gathering that gives careful attention to measurement issues, providing a sophisticated empirical analysis to evaluate the utility of public policy theories.
This book analyzes the politics of state regulatory decision-making in telecommunications after the AT&T divestiture in 1984. The author takes a political-economy approach that explains how interest groups and institutional factors have shaped different state policies. He shows that the structure and composition of state regulatory institutions have important effects on pricing and competition in the telecommunications industry. The innovative methodology of this work combines qualitative empirical analysis from the entire U.S. with case studies of eight states. It identifies the deregulation winners and losers by examining the impact of changes in local and long-distance price structures on different groups, including users of telecommunications services, small businesses, residential consumers, and rural residents. The book includes recommendations for improving state policy.
On January 8, 1982, the AT&T divestiture consent decree was announced. A company with $150 billion in assets--more than General Motors, General Electric, U.S. Steel, Eastman Kodak, and Xerox combined--the country's second largest employer with over a million employees, and the nations most widely held security with over three million shareholders, was to be broken up on the first day of 1984. Many economists, government officials, people in the telecommunications industry, and media observers predicted dire consequences for "the best telephone system in the world." Years later, some experts claim the divestiture has been a great success. According to present AT&T Chairman and CEO, Robert Allen, long-distance rates have dropped, local rates have not increased as dramatically as predicted, more households are on the network, other long-distance and equipment companies now effectively compete wit hAT&T, and consumers have received more choices in products, better values, and lower prices. Others are far less positive in their evaluation of divestiture's effects. After the Breakup: Assessing the New Post-AT&T Divestiture Era describes the current state of telecommunications and how the industry has changed in the first decade of divestiture. Drawn from a major project organized by the Center for Telecommunications and Information Studies at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, this volume offers an objective account of divestiture.
A comprehensive examination of the events that led to the Bell System breakup. . . . Argues that divestiture was the culmination of a long process of change in telecommunications policy that began several decades ago. Associates new technologies, economic pressure, and social and political developments as the driving stimulus inducing a change that was a process of gradual evolution rather than programmed revolution in national telecommunications policies. Journal of Economic Literature This book presents, for the first time, a complete history of the events that led to the breakup of the Bell System on January 1, 1984. Henck and Strassburg, each of whom has a lifetime of experience in the telecommunications field, correct the popular misconception that the divestiture of AT&T was an isolated event which by itself brought about the confusion and occasional chaos besetting the average telephone user. Rather, they demonstrate, it was the culmination of a process of change in telecommunications policy that began several decades ago.
The U.S. telecommunications industry has undergone dramatic changes in recent years that have touched almost every American home and business. The average American can dial almost anywhere in the world directly, store and forward a message, or transmit a fax in less than a minute; often for less than the real cost of a 500-mile telephone call tweny-five years ago. The combination of telecommunications breakthroughs, competition among new and old carriers, and the AT&T breakup has transformed the telephone industry and provided customers with a new array of equipment and services. Robert W. Crandall examines the effects of the AT&T breakup and weighs the costs and benefits to the residential and business consumer. On balance, he finds that the efficiency gains from opening up the telephone industry have more than offset the possible efficiency losses, which may be caused by the sacrifice of economies of scale and scope or the absence of fully compatible equipment and services. The replacement of regulation with competition has led to greater productivity in the telephone industry, a more efficient rate structure, and lower equipment prices. Crandall traces the telecommunications evolution from its early beginnings as pairs of copper wires up through the historic 1982 decision to divest. He investigates the impact of technological changes, competition, and the advent of divestiture on the quality of service, local and interexchange service rates, productive efficiency, and income distribution. He also focuses on problems that linger after the breakup in the increasingly competitive but highly regulated sector.
MacAvoy shows how antitrust and regulation have failed to make long-distance markets competitive, to the detriment of consumers seeking prices in line with the costs of providing long-distance services.
Written for communications specialists and policy makers, this book is a penetrating examination into the rapidly changing approach of states to telecommunications regulation and planning since the divestiture of AT&T in January, 1984. The editors place particular emphasis on the conjunction between the increasing state role in developing and implementing telecommunications policy and a new interest in economic development on the part of state governments. Following a discussion of the major issues surrounding telecommunications regulation and an exploration of the links between telecommunications and economic development, the experiences of nine states are considered in separate chapters. The contributors also consider telecommunications applications for improving efficiency in state government. The result is a comprehensive look at existing trends in state telecommunications regulation that will be invaluable not only to officials and legislators, but also to students of communications policy. Each of the nine state chapters includes a profile of the state's social and economic makeup, a description of the policy environment, a statement of regulatory policy, and and analysis of the relationship between telecommunications and economic development in that state. A number of chapters also include detailed case studies--among them a study of New York's Teleport, Nebraska's AGNET, and Washington State's 1985 Regulatory Flexibility Act. Based on their in-depth study of the nine states' experiences, the editors argue that states need to become better informed about the changing telecommunications environment and its potenial for improving efficiency in state government. In addition, both planning and regulation must be more related to economic development plans than they are currently in most states. Finally, the editors conclude that traditional state regulation of telecommunications companies is inadequate for establishing policy in this increasingly complex and important area.
Shaping American Telecommunications examines the technical, regulatory, and economic forces that have shaped the development of American telecommunications services. This volume is both an introduction to the basic technical, economic, and regulatory principles underlying telecommunications, and a detailed account of major events that have marked development of the sector in the United States. Beginning with the introduction of the telegraph and continuing through to current developments in wireless and online services, authors Christopher H. Sterling, Phyllis W. Bernt, and Martin B.H. Weiss explain each stage of telecommunications development, examining the interplay among technical innovation, policy decisions, and regulatory developments. Offering an integrated treatment of the interplay among technology, policy, and economics as key factors defining the development of the telecommunications sector in the United States, this volume also provides: *background material to facilitate understanding of each sector; *contexts for many so-called "new" issues, problems, and trends, demonstrating origins from years or decades in the past; and *careful annotation, documentation, and reference tables to enable further research on the topics discussed. This unique multidisciplinary approach provides a balanced view of U.S. telecommunications history, in context with relevant economic, legal, social, and technical analyses. As such, it is essential reading for advanced students in telecommunications needing to understand how the telecommunications industry and service developed to its current form. The volume will also serve as a supplemental text in courses on telecommunications regulation, and it will be of value to professionals in the field seeking context and background for their daily work.
AT&T's divestiture was the largest corporate reorganization in history and has had international repercussions. It was a major development in American economic policy, and a prominent part of the deregulation movement of the late 1970s. This study reveals the internal decision-making process at AT&T and explains how private and public interests combined to shape corporate and public policy in late 20th-century America. Temin weaves the strands of politics, economics, business, and law into an accessible narrative history that will be of interest to the general reader who wants to know about government business interaction and how it affects American citizens. Temin portrays divestiture as a great experiment in public policy, competition, openness, and international policy. He concludes that the experiment has been a mix of deliberate design and uncontrollable forces whose outcome was not foreseen.