Telecom Act of 1996 Was Term Paper

Instead the opposite has happened.

Competition in local telephone markets has failed to materialize because the local telephone monopolies have refused to open their networks to new entrants who must rely on parts of the monopoly network to provide local service. The major telephone companies have not sought to provide local telephone service outside of their home territories.(1) the Bell operating companies, instead of competing with each other for local customers, bought each other, creating a small number of dominant national firms with regional monopolies that are even more immune to competitive entry ("Lessons from 1996").

Regional Bell companies, unable to remain competitive as their brethren merged, were forced to do the same.

These effects were seen almost immediately when the Act was signed into law. Announcement of proposed mergers were made immediately by four of the seven Bell regional holding companies. NYNEX was acquired by Bell Atlantic. Pacific Telesis was acquired by SBC ("The United States Telecommunications"). One after the other mergers were announced, further reducing competition, rather than spurring it on. And the regional Bell companies, that were once powerfully profitable, completely lost their individual identities.

Conclusion:

Although the Telecommunications Act eliminated cross-industry barriers that prevented cable, long distance, and regional phone companies from entering each other's markets, the regional Bell companies were not positively impacted (Kall). Today, consumers can receive Internet service through their cable TV provider or their telephone service provider. Packages including cable TV, phone and Internet are available from a couple of companies. However, the regional Bells aren't able to enjoy these new market opportunities as they've been transformed into national conglomerates, with the series of mergers and acquisitions that followed the Telecommunications Act.

References

FILE s652.enr. 3 Jan 1996. FCC. November 3, 20007 http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/tcom1996.pdf.

Glassman, J. 5 Feb 2001. The Telecom Act, Five Years Later: Deregulation or Remonopolization? Reason Magazine. November 3, 2007 http://www.reason.com/news/show/36043.html.

Kall, M. 19 Feb 1996. The Telecommunications Act: The Good, Bad, and Unknown. TidBITS.com. November 3, 2007 http://db.tidbits.com/article/1130.

Lessons from 1996 Telecommunications Act:

Deregulation Before Meaningful Competition Spells Consumer Disaster. Feb 2001. Consumers Union. November 3, 2007 http://www.consumersunion.org/telecom/lessondc201.htm.

The United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. 1998. National Telecommunications & Information Administration. November 3, 2007 http://www.ntia.doc.gov/opadhome/overview.htm.