Arizona Issue Analysis #143
Executive Summary
In February, Congress overwhelmingly passed and President Clinton quickly signed into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (called TA96 in this report). The Act amends the Communications Act of 1934. Under the philosophy of the 1934 Act, telecommunications was considered a "natural monopoly" that needed to be regulated. The 1934 Act created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do the regulating at the federal level, leaving state regulation to State regulatory commissions.