Switched Services—Local and Long Distance Calling

Although revenues for switched services are flat, they still account for large amounts of sales. According to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) statistics, 1999 long distance revenues were $108 billion in the United States. In June 2000, there were 192 million local telephone lines in service in the United States. Cellular switched service generated another $50 billion in revenue. Clearly, switched services are significant. They are necessary for emergency and safety alerts. For example, people reporting a fire don't use email. However, email is definitely a factor in the lack of growth in revenues from switched services.

The public switched telephone network is analogous to a network of ...

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