Outlook Dim for Revised Accounting System Needed for Changing Telephone Industry

The telephone industry has been regulated on the premise that it is a natural monopoly. However, over the past years the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has allowed competition in the terminal equipment and intercity communication areas. To provide better current information to Federal and State regulators, industry managers, and other users, the FCC began to develop a revised Uniform System of Accounts. The system was intended to make it possible to determine the cost of specific telephone services for improving regulatory rate review and detecting anticompetitive pricing practices.