Foreword
In 1996, Congress overhauled the Nation’s telecommunications law for the first time in 60 years, responding to the astounding advances in telecommunications technology that had taken place during that period. The Telecommunications Act deregulated the telephone, cable, and broadcast industries and allowed the regional Bell operating companies (BOCs) to enter the long-distance market, but only after they had opened their own local areas to competition. In the six years since passage of the Telecommunications Act, the Internet has exploded and the business of transmitting computer data over long distances has emerged as a fast-growing, lucrative market. Today, 61 percent of…
