Universal Service in a Competitive Local Exchange Telecommunications Environment
Universal Service in a Competitive Local Exchange Telecommunications Environment

Author: Donald Gale

Publisher: Universal-Publishers

Published: 2006-05-22

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1581123221

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The telecommunications industry has evolved into a very competitive industry since 1980. Aggressive competition is the norm in the long distance, equipment, operator services and many other segments of the industry. The remaining segment of the market without widespread meaningful competition is the "last-mile" wireline service to the customer premise. Incumbent local exchange carriers enjoy a monopoly to serve nearly all residences and most business customers, collecting over 99% of all local exchange service revenues. Using their monopoly status, incumbents have developed a cross-subsidy system which uses the rates paid by some customers to lower the rates paid by others to support a policy known as "universal service." This policy has resulted in telephone service reaching 94% of America's households. Carriers claim that this policy cost them $20 billion annually, potential entrants claim the true cost is as low as $4 billion and the rest is profit. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress ordered the end of the local exchange monopoly and opened the local markets to competition. Congress also specified the continuation of universal service, specified that telephone penetration should be increased and specified that the universal service concept will be applied to America's schools, libraries and rural health centers. Congress also specified that, unlike today, all carriers will contribute fairly and equitably fairly to the universal service fund and that all carriers providing local service, including new competitors, will be eligible to receive support from the fund. The cost to meet these requirements in a competitive environment totals $7.2 billion, or 5.1% of net carrier revenue. This thesis addresses the definition of universal service and the services that should be eligible for support, the new competitive environment, how to collect the universal service support fund, and how to best distribute the funds to customers targeted to receive support from the system: those in high-cost areas, low-income consumers, and schools and libraries for advanced communications services.

A Theory of Universal Democracy
A Theory of Universal Democracy

Author: L. Ali Khan

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9789041120038

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A Theory of Universal Democracy empowers cultures and communities across the world to custom design democracy in consonance with their traditional values. For example, the book makes concrete proposals for Muslim countries to democratize their constitutions without accepting Western values and without violating the principles of Islamic law. More importantly, Universal Democracy further develops the idea of Free State, which the author first presented in his previous book, The Extinction of Nation-States (Kluwer, 1996). The proposed fusion of Universal Democracy and Free State is designed to revolutionize the classical theory of government and to offer a new paradigm that accommodates both universality and uniqueness. Scholars, teachers and students of international law, constitutional law, legal theory, and Islamic law will find this book a source of valuable ideas.

Universal Service
Universal Service

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Publisher:

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13:

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The Church
The Church

Author: Gerald Bray

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2016-04-12

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1493402552

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Renowned evangelical theologian Gerald Bray provides a clear and coherent account of the church in biblical, historical, and theological perspective. He tells the story of the church in its many manifestations through time, starting with its appearance in the New Testament, moving through centuries of persecution and triumph, and discussing how and why the ancient church broke up at the Reformation. Along the way, Bray looks at the four classic marks of the church--its oneness, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity--and illustrates how each of these marks has been understood by different Christian traditions. The book concludes with a look at the ecumenical climate of today and suggests ways that the four characteristics of the church can and should be manifested in our present global context. This accessible introduction to the church from an evangelical perspective explores ecclesiology through the lenses of church history and doctrine to reveal what it means for us today. Bray discusses the church as a living reality, offering practical ways churches and individuals can cooperate and live together.

In Defense of Universal Human Rights
In Defense of Universal Human Rights

Author: Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-11-26

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1509513574

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Should African and Muslim-majority countries be obliged to protect LGBT rights, or do such rights violate their cultures? Should Western-based corporations be held liable if their security guards injure union activists in another part of the world, or should such decisions be settled under local or domestic law? In this book, renowned human rights scholar Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann vigorously defends the universality of human rights, arguing that the entire range of rights is necessary for all individuals everywhere, regardless of sex, color, ethnicity, sexuality, religion or social class. Howard-Hassmann grounds her defense of universality in her conception of human dignity, which she maintains must include personal autonomy, equality, respect, recognition, and material security. Only social democracies, she contends, can be considered fully rights-protective states. Taking issue with scholars who argue that human rights are “Western” quasi-imperialist impositions on states in the global South, and risk undermining community and social obligation, Howard-Hassmann explains how human rights support communities and can only be preserved if states and individuals observe their duties to protect them.

Global Management
Global Management

Author: Stewart R Clegg

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 1999-02-22

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780761958154

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This book re-examines management theory `after Globalization'. Combining key names and studies from across the world, it explores the local realities that resist universal theories and that permeate the daily lives of practising managers. The book provides a comprehensive and critical reflection on the widely documented phenomenon of globalization in business. It assesses the implications of the diversity of individual economies and enterprises for general theories of management and concludes by presenting new approaches to the study and research of management and organizations.

International Perspectives on the Goals of Universal Basic and Secondary Education
International Perspectives on the Goals of Universal Basic and Secondary Education

Author: Joel E. Cohen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-12-04

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1135840725

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Although universal schooling has been adopted as a goal by international organizations, national governments, and non-profit organizations, little sustained international attention has been devoted to the purposes or goals of universal education. This book offers diverse views from experts around the world on the purposes of universal education.