On the Reconstitution of the National Telecommunications Resource

The National Telecommunications Resource consists of a large number of disparate switched and non-switched telecommunications systems. By and large they only interoperate at a "service" level, e.g., prearranged voice bands strapped together at a central office. Most can be made interoperable from a technical standpoint. Some interoperability scenarios may be economically viable, most are not. The operational and institutional problems associated with achieving the desired result can be formidable. During the trans-attack and post-attack period of a nuclear attack, a cascading set of events could be set in motion in the United States which have been the subject of debate for many years. Today, the preponderance of telecommunications in the United States is non-Government owned; thus, the creation of a reconstitutible configuration is, at best, a monumental undertaking. Some say it is an unachievable objective. This paper discusses, guardedly, the objectives, issues and perspectives of this National problem.