communications industry structure, including mass media, advertising, and telephone companies
Growth in the U.S. local telephone business has been strongly biased toward the largest companies getting larger. From 1916 to 1942, only about a third of U.S. households had telephone service. Hence opportunities for extensive growth in the local telephone business were relatively good. Nonetheless, AT&T’s share of operating revenue among the 75 largest telephone … Continue reading structural history of local telephone business
At my neighborhood CVS, for a mere $19.99 you can buy two text messengers designed for kids ages 6 and over. The messengers include some smart phone capabilities: a data organizer that holds e-mail addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses, and memos; a calculator; an alarm clock; and the capability to be password-locked. These devices offer … Continue reading text messaging for kids
The number of telephones in service in the U.S. at the end of each month from 1916 to 1942 show a seasonal slowdown in the telephone business in summer months. At the end of August, the number of telephones was typically 0.6% below trend.[1] As the telephone business picked up in the autumn, deviations from … Continue reading seasonality in the telephone business
By October, 1923, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) was producing a monthly booklet summarizing business conditions in the U.S. The booklet presented movements in macroeconomic indices and described general business conditions by Bell operating company regions. It also highlighted real business activity compared to telephone traffic.[1] The relevant chart from the November, 1925 booklet is … Continue reading early telephone business relatively stable
Major upgrades of the U.S. telephone network have taken decades. The first U.S. commercial installation of a automatic (mechanical) telephone switch occurred in 1892.[1] In the Bell System in 1920, nearly three decades later, only 2% of telephones were automatically switched.[2] The share of telephones in the U.S. that were automatically switched didn’t rise to … Continue reading upgrading U.S. telephone network technology