Ten Years Ago... Monopolies Still Rule the Local Phone Markets

TEN YEARS AGO: MONOPOLIES STILL RULE THE LOCAL PHONE MARKETS
[SOURCE: New York Times 5/22/1997, AUTHOR: Mark Landler]
Sixteen months after the Government opened the $100 billion local phone market to no-holds-barred competition, a new study found that fewer than half of 1 percent of Americans receive their residential phone service from a competitor to the monopoly provider. Moreover, the most likely rivals to the local monopolies -- AT&T, MCI, and other long-distance carriers -- were entering the residential market only grudgingly, according to the study, which was compiled by the Yankee Group. Of the 97 million households in the United States with a telephone in 1997, the study estimated that fewer than 500,000 were getting the service from a company other than their local monopoly. Even three years out, the study predicted the incumbent carriers will retain 90 percent of the market.
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