Until 1996, local telephone markets had been treated as natural monopolies and thus subject to regulation. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the quot;Actquot;) seeks to introduce competition into these markets. One method the Act adopts to stimulate such competition is to mandate that...

Telecommunications regulation has experienced a fundamental shift from rate regulation to increased reliance on compelled access. Of particular note, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 imposed no fewer than four access requirements. Unfortunately, each access requirement is governed by a...