58 Federal Communications Law Journal 37 (2006) – Download PDF
This paper focuses on the effects of federal regulation of telecommunications. Key issues of interest are the effects of regulation on the prices, quantity and quality of service, along with the associated effects on consumer welfare and overall economic welfare. Regulations that primarily affect applications or uses of information that pass through the infrastructure are outside the scope of this study.
Part I of this Article outlines the principal effects of regulation predicted by economic theory. Part II explains how the Article classifies costs and outcomes, employing basic concepts from price theory. Part III presents estimates of costs and assessments of outcomes for ten types of federal telecommunications regulatory activity: telecommunications regulatory spending, long-distance access charges, universal service funding, local number portability, enhanced 911, miscellaneous wireless mandates, spectrum management, satellite regulation, unbundled network elements, and resale of the incumbent’s services. Part IV outlines the principal conclusions one can draw, given the state of existing research.
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