The political economy of telecommunications regulation

This paper analyzes the effects of government regulation on the pricing and supply of telecommunications services in the United States. Among other things, it considers the effects of current economically inefficient pricing policies on bypass of the public switched telephone network and the widespread availability of low-cost telephone service, as well as the impact of the Bell System divestiture and other government policies on the economic organization of production in the industry. It examines how the regulatory environment is likely to change over the next decade, the forces making for change (or lack thereof), and the prospects for consumer-welfare-enhancing reform.