The case for a deregulated free market telecommunications industry

Given today´s technology and the history of telephony and public regulation, there is no reason for any part of the telecommunications industry to be owned by a government-enforced, publicly regulated, private monopoly telephone firm. Many individuals supporting the public utility paradigm for telecommunications do so on the basis that if telecommunications were left at the whims of the free market system, its monopolistic nature would manifest, leaving one private monopoly firm to occupy the field. The author demonstrates that (1) telecommunications is not a natural monopoly and (2) the best environment for telecommunications is the free-enterprise system.<>