Courses

Bill Frezza

Fellow

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Bill Frezza is a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the host of RealClear Radio Hour. He writes on a variety of topics, including regulatory reform, crony capitalism, tax policy, “green” government mandates, and ways to restore US economic leadership.

Blog Posts

How a telephone company used the government to monopolize an industry for decades

March 3, 2017
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Lobbying & Special Interests

"Oh for the days of Ma Bell!” is not a lament we’re likely to hear. And for good reason. Before the breakup of AT&T, America’s telephone system was a government-sanctioned monopoly characterized by stagnant service offerings, high costs, and a glacial pace of consumer-facing innovation. So it was distressing when a federal appeals court engaged in a bit of 1970s nostalgia last month by upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ill-conceived net neutrality rules. Under the new FCC rules, Internet service will increasingly be regulated like a public utility, rather