Telcom 2510 - US Telecommunications Policy

Last Updated: November 13, 1997

This Class meets on Thursdays from 6-8:50pm in IS 407.

Telecommunications exists in a complex social environment that frequently drives the structure and applications of the network. In this course, we will examine that environment in the US from a political, economic, and legal perspective. We will evaluate the major events in telecommunications history and examine the social, political, and economic responses to those events. We will conclude by examining current and recent developments in telecommunications legislation and policy.

The prerequisite for this course is TELCOM 2000 but good general knowledge about the technical structure and operation of the telephone network is usually adequate. If you do not have the former but have the latter, please get my permission first.

Recent Changes

New lecture notes linked in

Additional clarification of reading assignments

Required Textbooks

Horwitz, Robert Britt The Irony of Regulatory Reform Oxford University Press, 1989.
Brock, Gerald A Telecommunications Policy for the Information Age Harvard University Press, 1994.
CopyCat book containing prepared materia. This should be available after Labor Day. Please contact CopyCat about timing.

Useful References

Baumol, William and Jeffrey Sidak Toward Competition in Local TelephonyMIT Press, 1994.
Brenner, Daniel Law and Regulation of Common Carriers in the Communications Industry Westview Press, 1992.
Henck, Fred W. and Bernard Strassburg A Slippery Slope: The Long Road to the Breakup of AT&T Greenwook Press, 1988.
Mueller, Milton Universal Service MIT Press, 1997.
Temin, Peter with Louis Galambos The Fall of the Bell System Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Wenders John T. The Economics of Telecommunications Ballinger, 1989.

Useful Web Sites

There may be some required reading from these and other sites. Please consult the lecture schedule for details.

See the Information Policy Resources page for pointers to interesting WWW sites related to this course.
Federal Communications Commission
Telecommunications Resources
Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review
Federal Communications Law Journal
Netline (R) News Briefs
Tele.com (R) web paper
CommunicationsWeek Online
Ben Johnson & Associates page
Mintz Levin commentary page
FARNET Washington Updates
TELECOMREG Mailing List Archives
Other telecommunications courses. Many of these courses have different approaches and a different set of readings.

Grading and Evaluation

Paper- 50%
Weekly Quizzes- 10%
Final Exam - 40%

There will be short quiz on the required readings for the week at the beginning of class each week. These will focus on factual information in the readings and will be a combination of short answer/multiple choice/ true-false questions. I will drop the two lowest for each student before computing the final grade

The final will be drawn from a list of questions that I will publish by November 6. The exam is closed book.

Instructor Information

General Course Policies

Assignments

There is a semester project for each student that is elaborated below.
The final exam will take place on the last scheduled meeting of the class. It is a three hour exam in which you are allowed no resource materials (i.e. it is a closed book exam).

Research Paper

One of the themes that warrants further exploration in this course is the interrelationship between technology and telecommunications policy. In some cases, telecommunications policy causes technology changes, and in others, technological changes cause changes in telecommunications policy.

In this paper, you are to explore three cases in depth that illustrate the interrelationship between public policy and technology in telecommunications. The cases that you choose must satisfy the following characteristics:

One must be prior to 1960
One must be after 1960
One must illustrate technological changes causing telecommunications policy changes
One must illustrate telecommunications policy changes causing technological changes

For each case, you must address the following issues:

The nature of the technological change
The nature of the public policy change
A detailed historical chronology of the changes

In addition, you must discuss to what extent (if any) general conclusions can be drawn from the cases you examine. Can you propose a theory (that is supported by your cases) that would predict when one of these elements (technology or public policy) would cause the other to change? How reliable do you feel your theory is? To the extent that it makes sense for the cases you choose, please incorporate microeconomic arguments in your discussion.

While I don't want to impose page limits, I expect such a paper would be about 25 pages long (+/- 5 pages) using normal typesetting characteristics (1" margins, 11pt font, 1.5 line spacing). Please do not resort to "extraordinary methods" to "fill" the paper to 25 pages. I will not be counting pages and would prefer not to weave my way through superflouous verbiage meant to meet an artificial page quota.

The references at the end of the Bernt/Weiss book (Copycat notes) are a good starting point for early cases. The URLs on this page are good starting points for more recent cases. The references listed above are also good starting points.

Deadlines

Brief description of the cases to instructor (e-mail is OK) - Oct. 2
Outline of paper - Nov. 6
Paper deadline - Dec. 4

Tentative Lecture Schedule

Date	Topic	Required Readings
Aug. 28	Introduction and overview; Theories of Regulation; Lecture notes (1), Lecture notes (2), Lecture notes (3).	None (No quiz); Horwitz, Chapterm 2 and 3, Brock Chapters 1-4
Sept. 4	Introduction to Economics; Economics of Telecommunications; Lecture Notes	Course Packet , Readings from Wenders's book; Types of Economic Costs
Sept. 11	Early History: The Telegraph, Network Economics, and the Emergence of the Telephone; Early Telephone History ; Lecture Notes	Course Packet, Readings from Weiss and Bernt book; Brock Chapter 5
Sept. 18	Industry Consolidation and Government Involvement, Broadcasting, the Communications Act of 1934 and Early FCC Actions; ``Natural Monopoly'' and Rate of Return Regulation; Lecture Notes	Horwitz Chapter 4 and 5
Sept. 25	The Antitrust Suit and the 1956 Consent Decree; Regulatory Problems; The Weakening of the Monopoly: Hush-a-Phone, Carterfone, Above 890, MCI, Specialized Common Carrier, Television and Cable Television; Lecture Notes	Horwitz, Chapters 6 and 7; Brock Chapters 6 and 7
Oct. 2	Ratemaking, and Separations. The Reintroduction of Competition: Computer I & II, Execunet; Lecture Notes	Horwitz, Chapter 8
Oct. 9	``Creamskimming'' and Predation The Antitrust Case, the Modified Final Judgement, Broadcast Lecture Notes, Lecture Notes	Brock, Chapters 9
Oct. 16	Interconnection, Access Charges and Price Caps Lecture Notes, Lecture Notes	Brock, Chapters 10, 11, and 14
Oct. 23	Computer III and the First Triennial Review; ``Convergence''; Video Dial Tone; Local Competition Lecture Notes, Lecture Notes , Lecture Notes; Lecture Notes	Brock, Chapters 12 and 13
Oct. 30	The Internet and its policy implications; Lecture Notes	FCC OPP Report (Digital Tornado) Read Chapters 3-6.
Nov. 6	Wireless, Spectrum Auctions; Lecture Notes	CBO Report (Follow the link to "Telecommunications", and Get the April 1997 Report. Read all but Chapter 4.
Nov. 13	Telecommuncations Act of 1996 and its implementation: Interconnection; Lecture Notes	Briefs on Recent Developments, FCC's Implementation Schedule , The Enduring Local Bottleneck , Types of Economic Cost , Summary of the 8th Circuit's Decision
Nov. 20	Implementation of the Telecommunicatiosn Act of 1996: Universal Service	Telecom. Act Implementation Briefs , Benton Foundation Summary , NTIA's Guide for Users
Dec. 4	Review/Summary	(No quiz)
Dec. 11	Final exam	(No quiz)