You're not Impaired Because You are Impaired

Abstract:     
This Perspective argues that the Federal Communications Commission's current "trigger framework" of counting the number of competitors in a market in order to determine whether or not a rival is "impaired" is a model of analytical inconsistency. Specifically, the Commission defines "impairment" in terms of entry barriers, but then ignores the very entry barriers it deems important when establishing the triggering scheme. As a consequence of this determination, the Commission argues against itself and therefore the Commission should abandon or at least substantially alter its current triggering framework if local competition is to succeed in accordance with the precepts of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 6

Keywords: Telecommunications, Competition, Unbundling, Entry, impairment, 1996 Act

JEL Classification: K23, L10, L50, L96, O33, 038

working papers series