Ninety-five years ago, on December 19, 1913, AT&T Vice President Nathan Kingsbury sent the U.S. Attorney General a letter in which AT&T agreed to allow other companies to interconnect with AT&T in order to provide long-distance telephone services. This Kingsbury Commitment was the beginning of access reform in the U.S.
The U.S. access reform centennial is now only five years away. Access reform, along with related intercarrier compensation issues, remain ongoing regulatory concerns in the U.S., in the U.K., and in many other countries around the world. More appreciation for the long history of access reform might help to inform current policy analysis.