Structure, Pattern and Prospects for the United States Telecommunications Industry

Abstract

Much has been written about telecommunications and this industry’s effect on the way business is, and will be done. The literature of regional science and geography appropriately emphasizes flows and networks and the growing influence of telecommunications on the location of economic activity and the potential consequences for the space economy. In the latter case, speculation on such things as telecommunications effects on work-residence separation, on teleconferencing and travel reduction, and on improved abilities to produce goods and services at remote locations all make for fascinating reading (see, for example, Capello and Nijkamp, and Nijkamp and Salomon). In the former case, the study of intra-and inter-regional flows and networks has substantial implications for network design and load management.