Tele-Revolution : Telephone Competition at the Speed of Light, A History of the Creation of a Competitive Local Telephone Industry, 1984-2000 [Hardcover]

Richard G. Tomlinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

From the birth of Teleport Communications in a junk-strewn field on Staten Island to a $30 billion industry at the turn of the millennium, this book documents the creation of the competitive local telephone industry. More than a story of the birth, rise and, sometimes, death of corporate entities, this is about the people who dreamed dreams that could only be achieved by changing the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Richard G. Tomlinson has viewed the emergence of the competitive telecommunications industry from a ring-side seat. A former research scientist with a deep understanding of the technology, president of Connecticut Research, Inc., a telecommunications management consulting company, founder of the most widely followed annual report on the CLEC industry, he is a well-known author, speaker and historian.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PROLOGUE

Successful revolutions leave as a legacy an air of inevitability. The chaos, doubt and uncertainty that reigned during their creation fade from memory. Events lose their granularity. The possible roles of chance and accident are dismissed. The collective memory embraces an image of smoothly flowing history that seemingly could not have been resisted, diverted nor avoided. Discrete actions of individuals no longer seem so momentous. It becomes difficult to imagine how events might have evolved in any way other than how they actually transpired.

For those who were active participants in the revolution, it will always be quite different. They retain the knowledge of the sense of anxiety and of the reality of the threat of failure and defeat that accompanied those days. Rather than being fore-ordained, eventual outcomes seem more fragile and quixotic and more the product of isolated and sometimes arbitrary decisions and actions by individuals. The motivations of these individuals, as they knew them, were more complex and conflicted than they appear in retrospect. Revolutionary change proceeds unevenly. Virtue didn't always win.

Following the breakup of the AT&T Bell System in 1984, telecommunications in the United States and, ultimately, worldwide was launched on a new path. While this set the stage for the revolution, it was not the revolution. That came as the telecommunications industry began an erratic transition from monopoly to competition. In the process, the rules, the technology, the business structures, the markets and the consumers all were changed. State and federal laws were rewritten, and monopoly structures were undermined. A diverse collection of feisty, entrepreneurial competitors arose to challenge the established local telephone companies. Entering the year 2000, these competitors, not one of which existed in 1983, were well on their way to becoming the establishment.

This book documents the creation of the competitive local telephone industry and analyzes its history in both its corporate and human dimensions. It seeks to reveal what transpired behind the scenes as well as on the public stage, to illuminate the why and the how and, perhaps, to gain insight into the "what next."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Penobscot Pr; 1St Edition edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967874009
• ISBN-13: 978-0967874005
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,277,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A First Hand Look at Telephone Competition, June 13, 2000

By 

Andrew D. Lipman (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tele-Revolution : Telephone Competition at the Speed of Light, A History of the Creation of a Competitive Local Telephone Industry, 1984-2000 (Hardcover)

This book is a must read for anyone who appreciates the hard work, creativity and missteps involved in trying to dismantle a century old monoploly. Tomlinson does a supberb job in describing the people, business plans and technology deployed to open up the US local telephone market to competition. Nobody to date has provided such a lucid and compelling saga of the local competition story. Tomlinson has a gift for pulling together the various disparate threads involved in this story over a decade and a half and turning it into a thrilling and well written page turner. Tomlinson is an acute observer of the industry and has the perspective and literary skills to generate what is certainly the definitive book in its class. The book is historically accurate, but views the industry not only from the macro level but from the individual, micro level as well. Rarely do I recall enjoying a book as much as I did Tele-Revolution. For anyone involved in the telecom industry (either in the US or abroad) or for students of regulated industries and business strategies, they will find the book of enormous value and interest. I strongly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Tells It Like It Was, June 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tele-Revolution : Telephone Competition at the Speed of Light, A History of the Creation of a Competitive Local Telephone Industry, 1984-2000 (Hardcover)

As an early employee of one of the first Competitive Local Exhange Carriers, I lived through many of the events recounted in this book. From this perspective, the book "tells it like it was." This book is about the key personalities and the accidents and incidents shaped the telecommunications "revolution." The author provides enough information about the technology and legal/regulatory changes that were both cause and effect of the "revolution" to provide the necessary context and background for the story but it is not a dense, technical book. Rather, it is akin to a history of the American Revolution that focuses on the Founding Fathers and the fortuitous accidents that, in retrospect, changed the outcome of the war but, at the time, were seen as just another skirmish or not even noted at all.

The lesson learned from the book is that a modern business revolution--like any successful revolution--is due to a combination of factors: visionary, inspiring leadership; the ability of the revolutionaries to more swiftly adapt to accidents and uncontrollable incidents than the incumbents; courageous, dedicated and probaly naive troops; financial backers; and, lastly, good luck.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tele-Revolution, June 6, 2000

By 

J T MARKLEY (Plymouth,Ma.U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tele-Revolution : Telephone Competition at the Speed of Light, A History of the Creation of a Competitive Local Telephone Industry, 1984-2000 (Hardcover)

Tele-revolution is a classic in very sense.The research at the end of each chapter is complete and well documented, a credit to the author.The dreamers---who dreamed, made a whole new industry. Some made it,others did not.I worked as a consultant during the period mention in the book for five differt Region Bell Operating companies---and they never got it as to what was driving the individuals discussed in the book.The research alone is well done.This is a brilliant written book and will become a major source of research for decades to come.Clearly written by somone who understands the industry.Any one in communications needs to read this book.