Description
Book SynopsisDeregulating Telecommunications critically examines the transition from monopoly to competition in the U.S. and Canadian telecommunications industries. Accessibly written with a minimum of technical language, this thorough yet concise book looks at the history of the telephone industry, its regulation, and over a century of related public policy.
Trade ReviewDeregulating Telecommunications is a thoughtful, well-grounded analysis of the regulatory transformation in this arena, one that provides academics, policymakers, and lawyers useful ways to understand not just the past but the emerging landscape. The comparative approach provides rich opportunities to understand the context and implications of policy choices. -- Patricia Aufderheide, American University
With a fascinating historical approach, Deregulating Telecommunications is a unique and comprehensive comparative sketch of a complex dynamic in the telecommunication private and public sectors and the regulatory process in the United States and Canada. It fills an existing gap in the related literature and is a must-read book for students of communication policy, legal professionals, and communication scholars in general. -- Abbas Malek, Howard University
At a time when scholars, policymakers, and active citizens everywhere are compelled to think about the future shape of telecommunications in the new global information environment, Kevin Wilson reminds us how important it is to understand clearly where our national regulatory regimes came from, how they have evolved, and what forces have made them the way they are. -- Marc Raboy, University of Montreal
Kevin Wilson's Deregulating Telecommunications offers a superior introduction to the history and evolution of telecommunication policymaking in the United States and Canada. As media, computing, and telecommunications continue their inexorable convergence, an understanding of telecom policymaking will be mandatory for all scholars and students of media and communication. This book is where they should begin their search. -- Robert W. McChesney, author, Blowing the Roof Off the Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle
Kevin G. Wilson's study of the United States and Canadian telecommunications industries succeeds admirably in its stated purpose of making the complex, interdisciplinary knowledge of telecommunications policy accessible to students of communications. * Prometheus *
At this critical time when the telecommunications industries in the United States and Canada are converging, Wilson’s book provides a vital overview of how the industry evolved and how it was shaped by changes in technology, corporate strategy, government policy, and public intervention. -- Vincent Mosco, Canada Research Chair in Communication and Society, Queen's University
This volume provides an excellent survey of the development of the U.S. and Canadian telecommunications industries, and describes how they were regulated under traditional regulation of natural monopolies. Wilson succeeds in his goal. He provides a detailed, but readable, historical analysis of regulatory change in the U.S. and Canadian telecommunications industries. This book is best used in telecommunications management and policy courses. Upper-division undergraduate through faculty collections. * CHOICE *
This intellectually robust treatise reminds us that yesterday's answers are largely irrelevant for today's conundra and inappropriate to solve tomorrow's dilemmas. * Telecommunications Policy *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 General Introduction Part 2 Part I: From Competition to Monopoly: The Consolidation and Regulation of U.S. and Canadian Telecommunications (1846-1946) Chapter 3 Introduction to Part I Chapter 4 Telegraph and Telephone: The Birth and Consolidation of the U.S. Telecommunications Industry (1840-1936) Chapter 5 Telegraph and Telephone: Building the Canadian Telecommunications Mosaic (1846-1946) Chapter 6 The Regulation of the Telephone Industry As a Public Utility: History, Theory, and Practice Chapter 7 Conclusion to Part I Part 8 Part II: From Monopoly to Competition: The Deregulation of U.S. and Canadian Telecommunications (1946-1997) Chapter 9 Introduction to Part II Chapter 10 The Power of Ideas: The Beginning of the End of Monopoly in Telecommunications Chapter 11 Step By Step toward Deregulation in the United States Chapter 12 Local Network Competition and the Deregulation of Enhanced Services in the United States Chapter 13 The Canadian Approach to Deregulation Chapter 14 From Enhanced Services to Local Network Competition: The Canadian Approach Chapter 15 Conclusion to Part II Chapter 16 General Conclusion Chapter 17 Bibliography
