Telecommunications in a new era of competition: Fiber optics, regulatory barriers, and competition

The telecommunications industry has been affected by innovation and technological changes. Technological changes combined with judicial rulings and policy changes have led to a radical restructuring of the industry. The effects of restructuring on the firms, the consumers, and the role of regulators are currently unclear. A resulting question is "how are changes in state regulatory policies affecting local exchange carrier infrastructure investment?" I answer this by examining investment in four new technologies as they are affected by the regulatory policies.