Telecommunications in the US Market Trends

摘要

AT&T, once the proud crown jewel of the US communications industry, has fallen on severe times. The company's status as monopoly provider of telecommunications services to both business and consumer customers is gone, and the company's market share has eroded to less than 50 percent. AT&T is, however, still one of the world's premiere telecommunicaitons companies. Since the Telecommunications Act of 1996 went into effect, prices and the average revenue per minute have dropped. Many new carriers have entered the wireline local services market, providing both switched voice and high-speed data services. Even though the telecommunications industry has fallen on hard times, carriers generated a combined $292.8 billion in revenues in 2000, according to the FCC.