Assessing the Impact of the 1996 Telecommunications Act on Technology Deployment in the New England Region

This study compares the perspectives of the Departments of Public Utilities Control (DPUC), Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILEC) and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLEC) about the impact of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 on the deployment of new technology. The study explores the impact of this act on telephone competition in the New England States since 1996. Using a Grounded Theory approach, case studies of each state in the New England Region (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) are developed. Interviews with state regulatory authorities (DPUCs); newly created local telephone companies (CLECs) and existing local telephone companies (ILECs) are used to provide an insiders view of the development of the New England telephone industry since the Act. Analysis of the interviews provides a compelling view of a vibrant new industry created by the Act. Although most of our interviewees suggest that the Act had a slow start, they agree that is has been successful in stimulating telephone provider competition and the deployment of new technology to businesses and consumers alike