Economic and Political Consequences of the 1996 Telecommunications Act

Economic and Political Consequences of the 1996 Telecommunications Act

Author: Thomas W. Hazlett

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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The 1996 Telecommunications Act seems to be encouraging competition in key segments of the telephone and cable television industries. Stock price data suggest that the wave of "megamergers" in telecommunications-probably an unanticipated result of the Telecommunications Act-is associated with consumer benefits. Improvements in competitiveness are modest by some standards but impressive when judged against the results of other legislation with the announced goal of increasing market rivalry (e.g., the 1984 and 1992 Cable Acts). Federal policymakers also seem to be reaping benefits from the Telecommunications Act, in that its mandate for extensive rulemaking by the FCC in the transition to competition is associated with increases in political contributions to federal policymakers from telecommunications firms and executives. That is an intended consequence of the act's major reform: removing policy jurisdiction from Judge Harold Green's divestiture oversight and placing it in the hands of the FCC, a regulatory agency answerable to Congress.


Communications Policy and the Public Interest

Communications Policy and the Public Interest

Author: Patricia Aufderheide

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 1999-01-15

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9781572304253

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The passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 inaugurated a new and highly volatile era in telecommunications. The first major overhaul of U.S. communications law since 1934--when no one had a television set, a cordless phone, or a computer--the Act was spurred into being by broad shifts in technology use. Equally important, this book shows, the new law reflects important changes in our notions of the purpose of communications regulation and how it should be deployed. Focusing on the evolution of the concept of the public interest, Aufderheide examines how and why the legislation was developed, provides a thematic analysis of the Act itself, and charts its intended and unintended effects in business and policy. An abridged version of the Act is included, as are the Supreme Court decision that struck down one of its clauses, the Communications Decency Act, and a variety of pertinent speeches and policy arguments. Readers are also guided to a range of organizations and websites that offer legal updates and policy information. Finalist, McGannon Center Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communication Policy Research


Telecommunications

Telecommunications

Author: Walter Sapronov

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1998-06-23

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 0313374260

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This is a research and reference guide to the telecommunications industry in the United States, providing an account of legislative and policy changes up until the publication of the work. Contributions by scholars in telecommunications law and policy survey the post-1996 legislative field.


Telecommunications Act

Telecommunications Act

Author: Charles B. Goldfarb

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 9781600211331

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In 1996, Congress enacted comprehensive reform of the nation's statutory and regulatory framework for telecommunications by passing the Telecommunications Act, which substantially amended the 1934 Communications Act. The general objective of the 1996 Act was to open up markets to competition by removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to entry. At that time, the industry was characterised by service-specific networks that did not compete with one another: circuit-switched networks provided telephone service and coaxial cable networks provided cable service. The act created distinct regulatory regimes for these service-specific telephone networks and cable networks that included provisions intended to foster competition from new entrants that used network architectures and technologies similar to those of the incumbents. This intramodal competition has proved very limited. But the deployment of digital technologies in these previously distinct networks has led to market convergence and intermodal competition, as telephone, cable, and even wireless networks increasingly are able to offer voice, data, and video services over a single broadband platform. the current market environment, but not on how to modify it. The debate focuses on how to foster investment, innovation, and competition in both the physical broadband network and in the applications that ride over that network while also meeting the many non-economic objectives of U.S. telecommunications policy: universal service, homeland security, public safety, diversity of voices, localism, consumer protection, etc. This book explores these issues and includes the act in its entirety.


Telecommunications

Telecommunications

Author: Walter Sapronov

Publisher: Praeger

Published: 1998-06-23

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13:

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This is a research and reference guide to the telecommunications industry in the United States, providing an account of legislative and policy changes up until the publication of the work. Contributions by scholars in telecommunications law and policy survey the post-1996 legislative field, giving overviews of the 1996 Act itself, the impact of the legislation on national and international competition, regulation of the industry and the MCI/FCC cases in California, mergers and acquisitions, taxation and FCC reform.


Public Policy Toward Cable Television

Public Policy Toward Cable Television

Author: Thomas W. Hazlett

Publisher: American Enterprise Institute

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780844740690

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This book analyzes the effectiveness of the federal government's vacillating regulatory policy toward the cable television industry.


Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform: Finishing the Job

Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform: Finishing the Job

Author: Jeffrey A. Eisenach

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1461515211

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Communications markets have made much progress towards competition and deregulation in recent years. However, it is increasingly clear, in the age of the Internet and the digital revolution, that much more needs to be done, and that new approaches, both at the Federal Communications Commission and in Congress, will be required to complete the task. In this volume, the Progress and Freedom Foundation presents nine papers by communications policy experts and government policymakers that show how to finish the job of deregulating communications markets and reforming the FCC. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was a landmark piece of legislation for an industry moving from a monopoly orientation towards competition, but additional steps are needed to complete the process of implementing the pro-competitive, deregulatory vision of the act. Bringing together a group of the caliber represented in this book makes possible the best recommendations about the exact nature of those necessary changes. In this volume, the most difficult and politically-charged hot-button issues involving local and long distance competition, universal service, spectrum allocation, program content regulation, and the public interest doctrine are confronted head-on. As importantly, the authors recommend specific reform proposals to be considered by the Federal Communications Commission and Congress. The ideas contained in the experts' essays were presented and debated at a conference hosted by The Progress & Freedom Foundation, which was held in Washington, DC, on December 8, 2000. The Progress & Freedom Foundation studies the impact of the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It conducts research in fields such as electronic commerce, telecommunications and the impact of the Internet on government, society and economic growth. It also studies issues such as the need to reform government regulation, especially in technology-intensive fields such as medical innovation, energy and environmental regulation.


Telecommunications Act of 1996

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Author: DIANE Publishing Company

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 0788137573

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This highly controversial Act's purpose was to promote competition and reduce regulation in order to secure lower prices and higher quality services for American telecommunications consumers and encourage the rapid deployment of new telecomm. technologies. Covers: telecomm. services, broadcast services, cable services, regulatory reform, and obscenity and violence. Includes: development of competitive markets, universal service, infrastructure sharing, removal of barriers to entry, interconnection, access by persons with disabilities, etc.