Emerging Issues in United States Telecommunications Policy: An Analysis of Federal Communications Commission Activity

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was expected to transform US telecommunications policy more than any regulation since the creation of the Federal Communications Commission in 1934. Rapid technological advances and business process transformations have created numerous issues since the passage of this Act that were unforeseen by legislators and regulators. Utilizing content analysis of Federal Communications Commission news releases, this paper identifies and categorizes the important emerging regulatory issues in the US telecommunications policy and discusses the implications of the focus of the Federal Communications Commission for the design, management, and deployment of network based information technology solutions in organizations. These implications may help local and national telecommunications regulators and managers throughout the world better focus their efforts.