November 22, 2004

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first successful attempt to rewrite the sixty-two year old Communications act of 1934. The act refocused federal communications policymaking after years of confused, multi-agency and intergovernmental attempts to regulate and make sense of a burgeoning telecommunications industry. The Act established the statutory framework for promoting competition in telecommunications. Nearly a decade later, it is now widely considered inadequate for addressing the policy concerns raised by the Internet, wireless communications, and cable services.