How America Got On-line

____________

Preface

 

 

 

The title of composer John Cage’s autobiography, How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse), captures the sentiment of many observers of the telecommunications industry about government control. Throughout the world there has been a movement toward privatization of telecommunications services and the introduction of competition. Where private monopoly prevailed, as in the United States and the most populous provinces of Canada, there has been a clear trend toward the introduction of competition at every level of service and in every equipment sector. As for public ownership, this book joins in its general rejection. The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the dismal failure of public ownership as ...