The most significant overhaul of our nation’s telecommunications
laws since 1934 was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on February
8, 1996.1 Passed by a bipartisan Congress, the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 (hereinafter the “Act”) opened virtually every sector
of the telecommunications industry, including local and long distance
telephone services, cable television, and equipment manufacturing to
competition. The Act also made changes affecting the regulation of
both radio and television, modified spectrum allocation, and created
the Communications Decency Act.