Two papers consider state regulation of the telecommunications industry. The first paper, "Managing the Mixed Bag: Incentive Regulation at the State Level" (Gail Garfield Schwartz, Deputy Chairman, New York State Public Service Commission), describes New York State's regulatory policies in the broader context of the best ways for state…

The press of telecommunication technologies and their progeny have undermined the natural monopoly basis for long distance telecommunications and customer premise products, forced open regulatory doors, toppled barriers to market entry, and led to the reshaping of regulatory philosophy as regulators have seen new, wider horizons for the industry.…

The first of two papers presented in this section, "Price-Caps: Theory and Implementation" (Peter B. Linhart and Roy Radner) describes a proposed method of regulation involving price caps on core services and no price regulation of other services. This method is designed to replace rate-of-return regulation during a transition period to…

This report describes the AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) teletraining program, which includes internal programs, one-hour update programs, and special internal seminars. Topics considered include the number of courses, sessions, and update programs offered; the number of students served; and student acceptance of the programs…

This group of four papers considers the future of the cable television industry, and in particular, examines the impact of recent court and regulatory decisions in this field. The papers presented are: (1) "The First Amendment, Cable TV, and the Must-Carry Rule: Moving towards a Cost-Benefit Analysis" (John R. Woodbury, Federal Trade…

Three papers consider various aspects of the AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) court-ordered divestiture. The first paper, "InterLATA Toll Alternatives for the Bell Regional Holding Companies" (Elizabeth A. La Blanc, Ann M. Wolf, and Richard M. Wolf), examines six options available to the RHCs (regional holding…

Three papers consider the provision of telephone service to rural and/or low income customers. The first paper, "An Analysis of Telephone Penetration" (Alexander Belinfante), analyzes the relationship between telephone penetration (the proportion of households with phone service) and prices, household income, and other factors. This…

This paper looks at nine states--California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Nebraska, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--in an effort to find common themes in the processes and outcomes of post-divestiture state telecommunications policies. The possible consequences of current state policies are then discussed, and it is suggested that…

Two papers present arguments for and against the Communications Competitiveness and Infrastructure Act of 1991 (S. 1200). Topics addressed include earlier policy recommendations, competition in the telecommunications industry, benefits of video dial tone availability, telephone company participation in video services, restrictions on telephone…

Three papers discuss aspects of telecommunications regulation in a deregulated environment. The first paper, "Implementing Telephone Deregulation: The Political Economy of State Regulation in the Post-Divestiture Era" (Paul E. Teske), analyzed the variation in state regulation of local telephone operating companies using regression…

A year-long study of telecommunications policies and regulations in nine states--Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--found that these states tend to be more flexible in their telecommunications regulation than other states, although the process for achieving this flexibility has tended to…

In this paper, the tools of legal and economic analysis are used to analyze the division of decision making authority between state and federal regulators of telecommunications policy. First, the principles of welfare economics are applied to the problem of defining appropriate jurisdictional boundaries. The results of this analysis are normative…

The Bell system is the largest nongovernmental employer of people in the country, and over 50 percent of the people employed by its systems are women. This paper deals with the new personnel policies concerning women within the Bell system; in particular, it describes the AT & T Management Assessment Program (MAP), the vehicle used to identify…

A positive relationship has been found between access to telecommunications capabilities and improved economic development. However, the deployment of systems that deliver toll-free Internet access favors urban regions. This research examines Internet service providers' (ISP) operations in rural portions of Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, and West…

Two papers consider the capital recovery difficulties of telephone companies in the current deregulatory environment. The first, "Capital Recovery in the Transition Period" (Gail Garfield Schwartz, New York State Public Service Commission) describes the process determining depreciation in both regulated and deregulated environments, and…