Fundamentals of Telecommunications Telecommunications Environment

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Fundamentals of TelecommunicationsTelecommunicati
ons Environment Policy

• Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Instructor

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The telecommunications environment

• Global
• Fluid
• Complex
• Convergent

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Historical context

• 1837 the telegraph
• 1876 the telephone
• 1941 first computer/telephone connection
• 1947 the transistor
• 1956 first trans-Atlantic cable

• 1957 first satellite
• 1969 Arpanet
• 1975 first personal computer (Altair kit)
• 1986 NSFNet, first FreeNet
• 1991 WWW

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Regulatory Environment

• Telecom has been government regulated through
  most of the twentieth century
• Since 1983, there has been a swing from
  near-complete regulation to deregulation and
  competition

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Types of Regulation

• Federal (FCC, NTIA, Congress, Justice)
• State (PSC/PUC)
• Local

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Why Regulation?

• Ensure compatibility and universality
• Protect companies
• Prevent interference

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Regulation Milestones

• 1910 Mann-Elkins Act (ICC)
• 1921 Graham Act (ATT monopoly)
• 1934 Communications Act of 1934 (FCC)
• 1971 Computer Inquiry I (nothing)
• 1982 Modified Final Judgment (ATT)
• 1981 Computer Inquiry II (enhanced service)
• 1987 Computer Inquiry III (ONA)
• 1996 Telecommunications Act of 1996

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Deregulation

• Establishment of PSCs (PUCs) began in 1907,
  shifted more responsibility to states
• Motivation for deregulation is to increase
  competition, reduce costs

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Telecommunications Act of 1996

• Telephone service new universal service rules,
  competition in local long distance
• Telecom equipment manufacturing allows Baby
  Bells into market
• Cable TV Increased competition, rate
  deregulation
• Radio/TV Relaxed ownership rules, V-chip
• Online Communications Decency Act

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Global Telecom Environment

• Regulation varies from country to country
• Trans-border data flow is difficult to restrict,
  enforce
• Who owns the airwaves? The sky? Space?

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Escalating Speed of Change

• Rapid dissemination of technological advances
  pushes the regulatory and technical environment
• Policy-makers are seldom technologically
  sophisticated
• How do we handle the Internet? Cellular and
  digital communications? Proliferation of multiple
  lines per household/business?

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Impact of the Internet

• Trans-border data flow exceptionally difficult to
  monitor
• How do we define local standards online?
• New technologies threaten traditional
  telecommunications carriers
• How do we characterize/regulate technologies like
  Internet telephony?
• Internet grew up without regulatory oversight
  adding it after the fact is extremely difficult

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Standards

• Primarily voluntary, market-driven
• ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
• ISO (International Organization for
  Standardization)
• ITU (Intl Telecommunications Union, née CCITT)
• IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)