December 10, 1993
Sponsored by the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information.

The telecommunications industry is being transformed by the opening of local communications to competition. This competition is at work, foremost in the telecommunications sector, but traditional television has been similarly affected by the entry of communications providers such as cable TV, LPTV, microwave broadcast, and telephone company fiber-based transmission. Competition requires the reconfiguration of traditional organizational structures. For example, local telephone companies may separate into distinct entities, a network wholesaler and a systems integrator. In addition, media mergers between regional Bell operating companies and cable TV companies will also mean dramatic changes for local competition. This project investigated the ramifications on technology, services, pricing, and policy.

Standardization Issues in Local Competition
David P. Reed, FCC
Can Local Communications be Self Policing? A Proposal Discovery Procedure
John Haring, Strategic Policy Research, Inc.

• Discussants:
• Patricia Diaz, Dennis, Sullivan & Cromwell
• Bernard P. Gallagher, Century Communications
• William Berkman, Associated Communications
• William Lehr, Columbia University

Changing Corporate Culture in the Local Competitive Environment
James E. Katz, Bell core
Turning the Cables: Cable TV Entry Into Telecommunications Glenn Woroch, University of California - Berkeley

• Discussants:
• Robert Atkinson, Teleport Communications
• Mahal Mohan, AT&T
• Lawrence E. Strickling, Ameritech
• Michael O. Wirth, University of Denver

Reforming the Financial Support Systems for Universal Service in Telecommunications
Eli M. Noam, CITI
Competition and Local Communications: Innovation, Integration, and Entry
David J. Teece, University of California - Berkeley
Gregory L. Rosston, Law and Economics Consulting Group

• Discussants:
• Frank J. Gumper, NYNEX
• Cindy Schonhaut, MFS Communications
• Karl-Heinz Neumann, WIK, Germany
• Richard Stannard, New York Public Service Commission
• Robert Piller, Public Utility Law Project

Lessons Learned from Long Distance Competition
A. Michael Noll, University of Southern California
National Sovereignty and Local Communications
Herbert Schiller, New York University and UC - San Diego

• Discussants:
• Martin Elton, New York University
• Nicholas Garnham, CCIS, University of Westminster, UK
• Paul R. Zielinski, Rochester Telephone
• Patrick G. McCabe, Ministry of Commerce, NZ

Organized by:
Eli M. Noam, CITI
Gary W. Ozanich, CITI