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Common Carrier Regulation Of Telecommunications Contracts And The Private Carrier Alternative, Peter K. Pitsch, Arthur W. Bresnahan

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Communications Act of 1934 requires, among other things, that telephone companies as "common carriers" make their services available to the general public at affordable rates. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the authority to classify telephone services as common carriers as well as the ability to remove common carrier regulation to promote competition, satisfy consumer demand for individually tailored offerings, and avoid unnecessary regulatory costs. The Authors of this Article believe that the FCC should remove the common carrier regulation from certain long-distance service contracts and that such regulation is consistent with the deregulatory aims of the recent Telecommunications …