The Creeping Tide of the Gathering Storm
7 Pages Posted: 8 Jan 2005
Date Written: November 10, 2004
Abstract
This Perspective argues that while it is very important for policy makers to take a dynamic approach to telecoms, it unfortunately appears that many policymakers recently have used anecdotal evidence of intermodal competition to blur deliberately the line between "probability" and "ephemeral possibility" in order to justify the increasing deregulation of the incumbent Bell monopolists. As such, this Perspective concludes that if end-users - both large and small - don't develop a "constituency for competition" soon and let policymakers know that these issues are important to their bottom lines, policymakers will continue to ignore telecoms users and the Bells' regulatory capture of the political process will proceed undiminished.
Keywords: 1996 Act, telecommunications, local competition, monopolization
JEL Classification: K23, L10, L50, L96, O33, 038
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation