Introduction -- The promise of regulation -- Conceptual framework -- The first information revolution -- The development of telegraph services -- The telephone and state regulation -- Radio and federal regulation -- Technological origins of the second information Revolution, 1940-1950 -- Radar -- The transistor -- Electronic digital computers -- The SAGE project -- The separate worlds of computers and communications, 1950-1968 -- The early semiconductor industry -- The creation of a competitive market -- Innovation and the integrated circuit -- Falling prices, rising output -- The early commercial computer industry -- Vacuum-tube and transistor computers -- The system/360 and IBM dominance -- Alternatives to IBM computers -- The regulated monopoly telephone industry -- Antitrust and the 1956 consent decree -- Microwave technology and potential long distance competition -- Central office switches -- Terminal equipment -- Boundary disputes and limited competition, 1969-1984 -- Data communications -- Packet-switching and the arpanet -- Network protocols and interconnection -- Local area networks and ethernet -- From mainframes to microprocessors -- Intel and the microprocessor -- Personal computers and workstations -- The computer-communications boundary -- Computer-assisted messages : communications or data processing? -- Smart terminals : teletypewriters or computers? -- Interconnection of customer-owned equipment with the telephone network -- The deregulation of terminal equipment -- The deregulation of enhanced services -- Fringe competition in long distance telephone service -- Competition in specialized services -- Competition in switched services -- The transition to optical fiber --Divestiture and access charges -- The divestiture -- Access charges -- The enhanced service provider exemption -- Interconnected competition and integrated services, 1985-2002 -- Mobile telephones and spectrum reform -- Early land mobile telephones -- Cellular spectrum allocation -- Cellular licensing problems -- Spectrum instructional reform -- PCS and auctions -- Local competition and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- Competitive access providers -- Interconnection: CAP to CLEC -- The Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- The Internet and the World Wide Web -- The commercial Internet and backbone interconnection -- The development of the Web -- The new economy financial boom and bust -- Real growth in telecommunication and price benefits -- Conclusion -- Technological progress and policy evolution -- The process of institutional change -- Final comment.