WASHINGTON-“The vision of robust competition laid out in the [Telecommunications Act of 1996] is beginning to unfold,” said the FCC’s Office of Plans and Policy in a report released on the fourth anniversary of the telecom act.
The telecom act, signed by President Clinton on Feb. 8, 1996, envisioned a telecommunications world where everybody was in everybody’s businesses. With the many mergers and acquisitions, this is beginning to happen.
“The Act mandated the elimination of barriers preventing companies from competing against each other-letting cable, wireless, long distance and other companies into local telephony … We see competition in the local market beginning to take hold and are beginning to see competition across multiple platforms to deliver services to consumers,” said OPP.
The world is just as bright for the wireless industry.
“Today, 94 percent of Americans have three or more providers in their home market and over 75 percent have at least five operators competing for their business,” according to the report, “Telecommunications @ the millennium: The telecom act turns four.”
Competition has meant that more minutes are migrating from wireline to wireless. “In 1995, wireless voice minutes represented 1 or 2 percent of all voice traffic. By 1999 this had increased to more than 7 percent and by the end of this year, it is expected that wireless will account for over 10 percent of all voice traffic,” OPP said.
