On Bell: I. Time for a change: A former FCC common carrier bureau chief believes there's a better way to structure the communications industry

To most persons, “telecommunication” means plain old telephone service; and “information” is an abstract concept with little perceived relationship to telecommunications. The world, however, has entered what many consider to be an “information age,” in which the generation, acquisition processing, exchange, and use of information is becoming more central to social, economic, and political processes than are such well-known activities as farming, manufacturing, and merchandising. Indeed, most of the latter activities would be crippled without extensive information processing and exchange. Telecommunication, including not only plain old telephone service, but also many new forms of voice, data, and image transfer, is an indispensable element in these processes.