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Telephony & Telephony & Satellite Satellite
TechnologiesTechnologies
Telecommunications Act of Telecommunications Act of 19961996
• Removed entry barriers between local, long distance, and cable service providers
• Designed to stimulate competition in the telephone business
• So far, not much competition has emerged
Telephone PenetrationTelephone Penetration• More than 95% in United States• $83 a month
– $36 for local service– $12 for long distance– $35 for wireless
LATALATA• Local Access Transport Area
Local Telephone NetworkLocal Telephone Network• Traditional: all lines go back to
central office• Fiber-to-feeder: all lines go to fiber
remote terminal and then to central office
AT&TAT&T• 800 pound gorilla
• Communication Act of 1934– Immunity from antitrust actions– Promise to provide universal phone
service– “Natural monopoly”
1956 Consent Decree1956 Consent Decree• Law suit against AT&T dropped when
they agreed to stay out of computer business
1974 Lawsuit1974 Lawsuit• AT&T
– Denied use of non-Bell equipment– Denied interconnection with Bell
network– Held a bias toward Western Electric for
equipment– Engaged in predatory pricing
MFJ in 1982MFJ in 1982• Seven RBOCs formed (baby bells)• AT&T kept long distance business• AT&T kept Western Electric• AT&T entered the computer market
MFJ Ban RemovedMFJ Ban Removed• Telecommunications Act of 1996
removed ban of phone companies getting into the cable business
• To this day, telcos are more interested in pursuing markets in telephony than in cable
New Services?New Services?• New types of content?• Value-added services complementing
basic service?• New mechanisms for delivering
existing and emerging services?• New uses not feasible under the
technical limitations of old networks?
NoNo• Over 90% of fiber optic capacity went
unused in 2005
Ancillary ServicesAncillary Services• Mass-audience applications for the
telephone– 800 and 900 numbers– Bundled packages
• LNP – Local Number Portability• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)
– Developed in 1989– Sat on a shelf for about a decade
Media MergerMedia Merger• Verizon bought MCI in 2005• SBC bought AT&T – then became
AT&T• New AT&T has a local telephone
service in many parts of the county• AT&T wants to buy BellSouth
Telecommunications Act of Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Bigness1996 and Bigness
– Rate competition– Service quality– Public access– Freedom of speech
What Will Happen?What Will Happen?• Greater bandwidth• Is cable Internet a
telecommunications service?• Voice over IP will continue to grow
Baby BellsBaby Bells• SBC = Southwest Bell + Pacific
Telesis + Ameritech• Verizon = NYNEX + Bell Atlantic +
GTE• Qwest = U.S. West• BellSouth = BellSouth