Communications. On the Bell System: Boom or `bust’? For all it's done for communications and the economy, its critics recommend its breakup

The restructuring of the American telecommunication industry and regulatory relationships is a complex matter. But restructuring is essential, argues Walter Hinchman, former Chief of the Common Carrier Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. As he sees it, a U.S. telecommunications industry that has become firmly monopolistic under American Telephone and Telegraph threatens an increasingly information-based society. Mr. Hinchman proposes to break up the telecommunications industry into four distinct, competitive markets.