Internet Telephony: Effects on the Universal Service Program in the United States

Review of Network Economics, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1-15, 2005

15 Pages Posted: 2 Mar 2012

See all articles by Martha Garcia-Murillo

Martha Garcia-Murillo

Syracuse University - School of Information Studies

Lee W. McKnight

Syracuse University iSchool; Syracuse University College of Law

Date Written: September 1, 2005

Abstract

Internet phone services have grown from technical novelty to a competitive threat for traditional circuit-switched telecommunications. Using available telecommunication deployment statistics in the United States and modeling software, this paper presents two scenarios that investigate the potential impact of Internet telephony on universal service programs. They test whether the introduction of this technology and the way it could potentially be regulated would sufficiently reduce contributing carriers’ revenues to threaten the viability of the Universal Service Program. We conclude that the regulatory policies developed in the past century to support universal service have been obsolesced by the innovation and creative destruction of Internet telephony.

Keywords: Internet telephony, universal service program, telecommunications, VoIP, disruptive technology

JEL Classification: K23, L96, O33, O38

Suggested Citation

Garcia-Murillo, Martha A. and McKnight, Lee Warren, Internet Telephony: Effects on the Universal Service Program in the United States (September 1, 2005). Review of Network Economics, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1-15, 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2014142

Martha A. Garcia-Murillo (Contact Author)

Syracuse University - School of Information Studies ( email )

220 Hinds Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States
(315) 443-1829 (Phone)
(315) 443-5806 (Fax)

Lee Warren McKnight

Syracuse University iSchool ( email )

Hinds Hall 228
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States
315-278-4392 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://wigit.ischool.syr.edu

Syracuse University College of Law ( email )

950 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States
315 278-4392 (Phone)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
57
Abstract Views
816
Rank
659,215
PlumX Metrics