ABSTRACT
In this short time span (1984-96), the American telecommunications business underwent much of a difficult transition from the old, ordered, monopoly system to the beginnings of something quite different. Triggered by the implementation of the Modified Final Judgment, the period became especially complex with the rise of two important modes of telecommunications that had been limited in their application earlier-wireless (cellular) systems, and the Internet. Either was sufficient to change the rules; together (and combined with the end of the old Bell System) they created new players, policy concerns, and options for consumers. As will be seen in chapter 9, these and other changes finally forced substantial modifications in the ruling Communications Act.
