Network convergence
"[1] The new regulatory framework that was shaped by the 1996 act eliminated the entry barrier for companies to expand their business into new markets.
Digital technology allows both traditional and new communication services – whether voice, data, sound or pictures – to be provided over many different networks.
Whether at home, at the office, or in the classroom, people enjoy the conveniences and entertainment brought by convergence like video-on-demand, interactive television, the Internet, personal digital assistants, and so on.
Examples of products and services being delivered include: Network convergence in the US is facilitated by the legal and regulatory framework put into place by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and driven by new generations of telecommunication technology.
Unlike other countries (e.g., Japan, South Korea, China) or regions (e.g., the European Union), the U.S. never adopted a formal convergence policy.
The objective of the Act was to open up markets to competition and to create a regulatory framework for the transition from primarily monopoly provision to competitive provision of telecommunications services: The conference report refers to the bill "to provide for a pro-competitive, de-regulatory national policy framework designed to accelerate rapidly private sector deployment of advanced information technologies and services to all Americans by opening all telecommunications markets to competition...."[5] Likewise, the Act created distinct regulatory regimes for these service-specific telephone networks and cable networks that included provisions intended to foster competition from new entrants that used network architectures and technologies similar to those of the incumbents.
[6] The Act places on all telecommunications services providers the duty to interconnect "...directly or indirectly with the facilities and equipment of other telecommunications carriers..."[7] Keeping with this regulatory history, the Commission has chosen to forbear from regulating information services, again seeking to foster their development and deployment.
The new regulatory framework that was shaped by the 1996 act eliminated the entry barrier for companies to expand their business into new markets.
The ability of cable television infrastructure to carry converged services has driven investment in fiber optic networks by telecommunications operators.
As mentioned above, traditional telephone companies are taking different measures to expand businesses in the convergent market.
On the aspect of infrastructure, companies like AT&T started upgrading from traditional copper wires to fiber to enhance the quality and speed in voice and data transmission.
With a relatively simple upgrade, they can offer digital subscriber lines (DSL), which allow high-speed access to the Internet.
Simultaneously, it has grown consumer revenues by about 1 per cent in legacy telecommunications markets with its video and broadband services driving growth.
By using specialized hardware and a web interface, users are allowed to control and select the programs and link to the Internet on TV.
[9] Carriers are adding services to their traditional telephone business after upgrading their networks and engaging in multiple alliances and acquisitions of other companies.
