The Massachusetts public utility commission has pursued policies to promote competition and efficient pricing in telecommunications since the divestiture of AT&T in 1984. As part of this effort, the Massachusetts Commission approved incentive regulation for AT&T and Verizon – the only two...

The decision-making process in state utility commissions is best described as "regulatory impressionism." Working in concert with longstanding notions of judicial deference, the existence of regulatory impressionism has far-reaching implications for the move towards a competitive marketplace in...

In this paper I review the recent paper by DeGraba (2000) that proposes a version of Bill and Keep (called COBAK) as the efficient interconnection regime. I argue while the proposed interconnection regime is suitable for some types of interconnection it would be quite undesirable for others. I...

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the TELRIC standard. We develop an engineering-economic model of an interoffice telephone network suitable for calculating a TELRIC interconnection cost. The model utilizes the method of simulated annealing to determine an "optimal" SONET ring. Using...

In May 2002, the Supreme Court upheld the rules promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement provisions in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the Act) regarding mandatory resale of the components of local telephone networks. This article explains the background of the...

In a critique of my paper outlining the Central Office Bill and Keep (COBAK) proposal, Wright (2001) offers two sets of conditions under which a COBAK interconnection regime would not lead to efficient utilization. There could be conditions under which some interconnection regime other than...

Well-established economic principles show that regulated monopolies may have an incentive to act discriminatorily against rivals of their unregulated affiliates. This paper discusses some recent empirical evidence regarding discrimination in telecommunications. Specifically, it surveys anecdotal...

I review two papers, addressing the issue of competition and quality determination in the market for Internet access services (Crémer, Rey, and Tirole (2000), Foros and Hansen (2001)). These two works come to seemingly opposite conclusions. After having summarized the two papers, I try to...

The Supreme Court decision in Verizon et al v. FCC et al has finally settled the legality of the FCC's methodology for setting prices for wholesale services that are "based on cost", as required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Court's decision reveals unanimous agreement that...

The Supreme Court Opinion on local exchange competition in general and on pricing and unbundling in particular was much anticipated and will be much discussed. Because of the very technical nature of the pricing and unbundling rules facing incumbent local exchange carriers there is a...