Telephone Companies in Paradise : A Case Study in Telecommunications Deregulation Hardback

Computerization has generated dra­matic advances In telecommunica­tions, such as mobile telephones and video conferencing.

Coupled with this are major changes in regulation, as telephone companies face new compet­itors.

States are experimenting with new forms of utility regulation and de­regulation in order to cope with the demands of rising competition.

Here Mueller examines in detail the results of a radical telephone regulation law.In 1986, the state of Nebraska com­pletely discarded traditional utility reg­ulation, deregulating rates and profits of its local telephone companies.

The Nebraska experiment has become a benchmark for reassessing the role of state regulation In the future of tele­communications.

Using comparative data from five midwestern states, Mueller shows how deregulation af­fected rates, investment, infrastruc­ture modernization, and profits.

He uncovers both positive and negative results. Mueller found established telephone companies to be basically conservative, not aggressive and ex­pansionist, and concludes that new competition, not regulation or deregu­lation, is transforming the telecommu­nications industry.This book is the first systematic em­pirical study of the controversial Ne­braska law and its broader effects.

It will be a significant addition to the much debated issue of telecommuni­cations deregulation.

Economists, pol­icymakers, and telecommunications managers will find in this volume a substantial resource.

According to Robert Atkinson, senior vice president of Teleport Communications Group: "Nebraska's experiences with telecom­munications deregulation - the good, the bad and the ugly - need to be un­derstood by all telecommunications policymakers across the country so that they can emulate Nebraska's suc­cesses and avoid its mistakes.

Mueller provides the roadmap."