The telecommunications policy of the United States is a framework of law directed by government and the regulatory commissions, most notably the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC). Two landmark acts prevail today, the Communications Act of 1934 and the

Telecommunications Act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...

. The latter was intended to revise the first act and specifically to foster competition in the telecommunications industry. Candlestick phone

Aims

In the name of public interest, a large proportion of telecommunications policy is concerned with the economic regulation of interstate and international communication. This includes all communication by radio, telephone, wire, cable and satellite. Telecommunications policy outlines antitrust laws as is common for industries with large barriers to entry. Other features of the policies addressed include

common carrier A common carrier in common law countries (corresponding to a public carrier in some civil law systems,Encyclopædia Britannica CD 2000 "Civil-law public carrier" from "carriage of goods" usually called simply a ''carrier'') is a person or compan ...

laws which controls access to networks. While the telephone providers are required to be common carriers, there is an ongoing

net neutrality Network neutrality, often referred to as net neutrality, is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all Internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent rates irrespective of co ...

debate about the obligations of ISP's. Telecommunication policy addresses the management of

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

owned resources such as the

spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...

which facilitates all wireless communications. There is a naturally limited quantity of usable spectrum that exists, therefore the market demand is immense, especially as use of mobile technology, which uses the electromagnetic spectrum, expands. One of the goals of the FCC is to best utilize this limited resource in such a way will bring about the "highest and best use". License to use spectrum was originally determined by committee, however, since 1993 it has been determined by an auction to assure that the licensee is both qualified and motivated to make best use of this commodity. *For example, an FM station in Iowa was recently auctioned for $4,397,250. The famous

American Telephone & Telegraph AT&T Corporation, originally the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is the subsidiary of AT&T Inc. that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agen ...

(AT&T) empire was once based on the concept that they had the duty and honor of serving the public people in return for their monopoly on the telecommunication industry. * National Security: With the recent events of our world, such as

9-11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, Hurricane Katrina, and others it has been deemed essential that we have in place a dedicated network with ample spectrum for crisis communication. The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) manages spectrum used by the Federal government such as air traffic control and national defense. The FCC is responsible for spectrum used by others, including individuals and public safety and health officials like police and emergency medical technicians.

Institutional framework in the U.S.

*Independent Regulatory Commissions * FCC, state PUCs (

Public Utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

Commissions) * ''Delegation Doctrine'': statutory authority ** quasi-legislative, executive and judicial functions * Legislative role (delegation, oversight, budget) * Executive role (appointment, budget) * Judicial role (review commission decisions) The hallmark event in the history of the US telecommunication industry was the breakup of the Bell System into

regional Bell Operating Companies The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of '' United States v. AT&T'', the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.). On January 8, 1 ...

(RBOCs) or "Baby Bells" in the early 1980s. The challenge since remains preserving competition and no longer allowing monopolies. There are a number of agencies concerned with telecommunication policy: * The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) * The

(FCC)

Broadband deployment policy objectives

The FCC derives its jurisdiction to facilitate the deployment of broadband to Americans in Section 706 in the

Telecommunications act of 1996 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...

. In this section the code states that the FCC is to “encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans.” They currently want to advocate the following objectives: *Broaden the deployment of broadband technologies *Define broadband to include any platform capable of transmitting high-bandwidth intensive services *Ensure harmonized regulatory treatment of competing broadband services *Encourage and facilitate an environment that stimulates investment and innovation in broadband technologies and services

Current challenges

* Regulation of

Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet. ...

(IP) transport * Is

Unbundled Network Element Unbundled network elements (UNEs) are a requirement mandated by the United States Telecommunications Act of 1996. They are the parts of the telecommunications network that the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are required to offer on an ...

(UNE) competition viable? * Is there really room for multiple fiber-to-the-home (

FTTH Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...

) networks? * Interconnection and "open access" * Content/conduit bundling * FCC spectrum policy: evolution of flexibility of use * How to regulate the bottleneck using the

LoopCo {{no footnotes, date=December 2018 LoopCo is an economic model created in the mid-1990s as a proposal to the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Congress for the healthy development of competition in the local and long distance telephon ...

regulatory regime. * How should

municipal broadband Municipal broadband is broadband Internet access owned by public entities. Services are often provided either fully or partially by local governments to residents within certain areas or jurisdictions. Common connection technologies include unlice ...

networks be regulated? * Cyber warfare and electronic privacy rights * Fighting the duopoly battle- Unfortunately many users in the United States are presented with only two service provider options, cable modem or DSL. In some cases, they may not even have that choice.

Wire line and wireless telecommunication policy

Currently, the policy being set forth by the FCC has two different levels of regulation. One for fixed line, wire line communications and the other for wireless communications. Their current tenets strictly regulate network neutrality on wire line networks. However the commission is placing as many mandates on wireless communications. This means that wireless telecommunications providers are not permitted to block any website, but they may block applications and services unless they are direct competitors to the provider's content or services. This difference between the two technologies creates a major loophole in telecommunications policy, as most providers have already begun the shift from wired to wireless network infrastructures.

References