Telecommunication policy
Encyclopedia
The Telecommunications policy in the US is a framework of law directed by government and the Regulatory Commissions, most notably the Federal Communications Commission
. Two landmark acts prevail today, the Communications Act of 1934
and the Telecommunications Act of 1996
. The latter was intended to revise the first act and specifically to foster competition in the telecommunications industry.
of infrastructure operators. Telecommunications policy outlines antitrust
laws as is usual for industries with large barriers to entry. Other features of the policies address common carrier
laws; mandating equal access to networks. While the telephone providers are required to be a common carriers, there is an ongoing net neutrality debate about the obligations of ISP's.
The famous Atlantic Telephone and Telegraph
(ATT) empire was once based on the concept that they had the duty and honor of serving the public people in return for their monopoly on the telecommunication industry.
The hallmark event in the history of the US Telecommunication industry would be the breakup of the Bell
Telephone company
into regional Bell Operating Companies
(RBOCs) or "Baby Bells" in the early 1980s.
The challenge since remains preserving competition and no longer allowing monopolies.
There are a number of agencies concerned with telecommunication policy:
They currently want to advocate the following objectives:
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. Two landmark acts prevail today, the Communications Act of 1934
Communications Act of 1934
The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law, enacted as Public Law Number 416, Act of June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, by the 73rd Congress, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the...
and the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
. The latter was intended to revise the first act and specifically to foster competition in the telecommunications industry.
Aims
In the name of public interest, a large proportion of Telecommunications policy is concerned with the economic regulation of natural monopolyNatural monopoly
A monopoly describes a situation where all sales in a market are undertaken by a single firm. A natural monopoly by contrast is a condition on the cost-technology of an industry whereby it is most efficient for production to be concentrated in a single form...
of infrastructure operators. Telecommunications policy outlines antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
laws as is usual for industries with large barriers to entry. Other features of the policies address common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
laws; mandating equal access to networks. While the telephone providers are required to be a common carriers, there is an ongoing net neutrality debate about the obligations of ISP's.
- Management of GovernmentGovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
owned resources spectrumElectromagnetic spectrumThe electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....
- Electromagnetic spectrum facilitates all wireless communications. There is a naturally limited quantity of usable spectrum that exists, therefore the market demand is immense. For example, an FM station in Iowa was recently auctioned for $4,397,250.
The famous Atlantic Telephone and Telegraph
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
(ATT) empire was once based on the concept that they had the duty and honor of serving the public people in return for their monopoly on the telecommunication industry.
- National Security: With the recent events of our world, such as 9-11, Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, and others it has been deemed essential that we have in place a dedicated network with ample spectrum for crisis communication. The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) manages spectrum used by the Federal government such as air traffic control and national defense. The FCC is responsible for spectrum used by others, including individuals and public safety and health officials like police and emergency medical technicians.
Institutional framework in the U.S.
- Independent Regulatory Commissions
- FCC, state PUCs (Public UtilityPublic utilityA public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
Commissions) - Delegation Doctrine: statutory authority
- quasi-legislative, executive and judicial functions
- Legislative role (delegation, oversight, budget)
- Executive role (appointment, budget)
- Judicial role (review commission decisions)
The hallmark event in the history of the US Telecommunication industry would be the breakup of the Bell
Bell System
The Bell System was the American Bell Telephone Company and then, subsequently, AT&T led system which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984, at various times as a monopoly. In 1984, the company was broken up into separate companies, by a U.S...
Telephone company
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
into regional Bell Operating Companies
Regional Bell Operating Company
The Regional Bell Operating Companies are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company . On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating...
(RBOCs) or "Baby Bells" in the early 1980s.
The challenge since remains preserving competition and no longer allowing monopolies.
There are a number of agencies concerned with telecommunication policy:
- The National Telecommunications and Information AdministrationNational Telecommunications and Information AdministrationThe National Telecommunications and Information Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' economic and technological advancement and to regulation of the...
(NTIA) - The Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC)
Broadband deployment policy objectives
The FCC derives its jurisdiction to facilitate the deployment of broadband to Americans in Section 706 in the Telecommunications act of 1996. In this section the code states that the FCC is to “encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans.”They currently want to advocate the following objectives:
- Broaden the deployment of broadband technologies
- Define broadband to include any platform capable of transmitting high-bandwidth intensive services
- Ensure harmonized regulatory treatment of competing broadband services
- Encourage and facilitate an environment that stimulates investment and innovation in broadband technologies and services
Some of the current challenges
- Regulation of IPInternet ProtocolThe Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
Transport - Is UNEUnbundled Network ElementUnbundled Network Elements are a requirement mandated by the United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. They are the parts of the telecommunications network that the incumbent local exchange carriers are required to offer on an unbundled basis...
competition viable? - Is there really room for multiple Fiber To The Home (FTTH) networks?
- Interconnection and "Open Access"
- Content/Conduit bundling
- FCC Spectrum Policy: Evolution of Flexibility of Use
- How to regulate the bottleneck using the LoopCoLoopCoLoopCo is an economic model created in the mid 1990s as a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission and the US Congress for the healthy development of competition in the local and long distance industries in the US. While there was widespread support among competitors in the industry, it...
regulatory regime. - How should municipal broadbandMunicipal broadbandMunicipal broadband deployments are broadband Internet access services provided either fully or partially by local governments. Common connection technologies include unlicensed wireless , licensed wireless , and fiber-optic...
networks be regulated? - Cyber Warfare and electronic Privacy Rights
- fighting the duopoly battle- Unfortunately many users in the United States are presented with only two service provider options, cable modem or DSL. In some cases, they may not even have that choice.
Current philosophy of FCC policy makers
- Consumers and innovators have the right to know basic information about broadband service, like how network providers are managing their networks.
- Consumers have the right to send and receive lawful Internet traffic of their choice. The proposed framework would prohibit blocking of lawful content, applications, services, and the connection of non-harmful devices to the network.
- No one entity should have the power to pick which ideas or companies win or lose on the Internet; that’s the role of the market and the marketplace of ideas. The proposed policy framework includes a bar on unreasonable discrimination in transmitting lawful network traffic.
Wire line and wireless telecommunication policy
Currently the policy being set forth by the FCC has two different levels of regulation. One for fixed line, wire line communications and the other for wireless communications. Their current tenets strictly regulate network neutrality on wire line networks. However the commission are not placing as many mandates on wireless communications. This means that wireless telecommunications providers are not permitted to block any website, but they may block applications and services unless they are direct competitors to the provider's content or services. This difference between the two technologies creates a major loophole in telecommunications policy, as most providers have already begun the shift from wired to wireless network infastructures.See also
- TelecommunicationTelecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
- Open access to BroadbandBroadband open accessBroadband open access is an issue of policy debate in telecommunications, regarding whether or not companies which own broadband telecommunication infrastructure should be required to provide access to their facilities for competing businesses which do not own physical infrastructure. The issue...
- Communications Act of 1934Communications Act of 1934The Communications Act of 1934 is a United States federal law, enacted as Public Law Number 416, Act of June 19, 1934, ch. 652, 48 Stat. 1064, by the 73rd Congress, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, codified as Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code, et seq. The Act replaced the...
(USA) - Telecommunications Act of 1996Telecommunications Act of 1996The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first major overhaul of United States telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. This Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, was a major stepping stone towards the future of telecommunications, since this was the...
(USA)
- Common carrierCommon carrierA common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
- Federal Standard 1037CFederal Standard 1037CFederal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms is a United States Federal Standard, issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended....
- Layered Model of RegulationLayered Model of RegulationThe layered model of telecommunication regulation is a proposal for nascent US telecommunication public policies that mimic the horizontal characteristics of Internet Protocol communication and the OSI model...
- Network neutrality in the United StatesNetwork neutrality in the United StatesNetwork neutrality in the United States is a hotly debated issue subject to regulatory and judicial contention among network users and access providers...