Growth of Modern Communications Technology

Early Development
The development of the electric telegraph in the 1840s and the telephone in the late 1870s made rapid long-distance communications possible. Both media began in local areas and then rapidly spread to connect large parts of the Nation and the world. Fewer than five years after its introduc­tion, over 47,000 telephones were being used in the United States. The growth of these commu­nications media accelerated the pace of social interaction, migration, commerce, and government activities.

The telegraph and, to a greater degree, the telephone continued to be the principal media for telecommunications for most of the 20th Century. The introduction of undersea cables in the late 1850s enabled worldwide communications structures and the expansion of the leading telecom­munications companies to a dominant position in the industry.

The invention of “wireless telegraphy”(now known as “radio”) at the turn of the 20th Century greatly increased the mobility of official and personal communications and made greater volumes of com­munications possible. Radio quickly emerged as both a medium for point-to-point (e.g., ship-to­-shore) and point-to-multipoint telecommunications (e.g., police dispatch) and a mass medium for information, entertainment, and commerce. Fueled by technological advances like the amplifying vacuum tube in 1913, both coast-to-coast telephony and transatlantic radio transmission became possible, weaving the world even closer together. The utility and consequent worldwide adoption and rapid evolution of these new communications media prompted the creation of new legal and regulatory regimes both internationally and domestically to set rates, standardize terms of service, and allocate frequency bands to radio services by country.

The advent of international communications via telegraph led to the International Telegraph Union Convention and the formation of the International Telegraph Union in 1865, and the United States became a member in 1908. The Department of State has led U.S. delegations to this organization (and its successor) since the United States first joined it. Communication via radiotelegraph led to the International Radiotelegraph Convention in 1906.

On the domestic front, the Radio Act of 1912 established a radio licensing regime within the Department of Commerce and required certain ships to carry radios for communications. Due to conflict between amateur radio operators and the U.S. Navy and corporations, the Radio Act further regulated private radio communications, thus setting the precedent for federal regulation of wire­less communications.

In the Radio Act of 1927, Congress directed the transfer of this radio frequency licensing regime from the Department of Commerce (with the notable exception of federal agencies’ authorization to use radio frequencies) to a newly created five-member independent agency, the Federal Radio Commission. The Radio Act of 1927 also outlawed the interception of private radio messages and divulging their contents. Regulation of wireline communications remained separate from wire­less, however, with responsibility shared between the Commerce Department and the Interstate Commerce Commission. Following on the popularity of radio, television debuted in the 1920s and by the 1950s was firmly entrenched.

The next noteworthy developments came less than a decade later, in 1934. First, the International Telegraph Convention and the International Radiotelegraph Convention combined, and the International Telegraph Union was renamed the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In 1949, the ITU became a specialized agency of the United Nations. The ITU Constitution and Convention are updated every four years and will next be negotiated again in 2010 at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Veracruz, Mexico.

Second, coinciding with the establishment of the ITU, Congress enacted the Communications Act of 1934, which replaced the Federal Radio Commission with a new agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and consolidated in it authorities for both wireless and wireline communications. In particular, the Communications Act gave the FCC broad authority to regulate:


 * interstate and foreign commerce in communication by wire and radio so as to make

available, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, a rapid efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communica­tion service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges, for the purpose of the national defense, for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communication. . ..

Since its inception, the FCC has remained the primary institution responsible for formulating and implementing U.S. policies and regulations governing private, commercial electronic communica­tions within the United States and between the United States and other countries. Its jurisdiction over “communication by wire and radio” has been reinforced by multiple amendments to the Communications Act over the years. This has enabled the FCC to affect the economic and technical development of virtually all types of electronic communications, including telegraph, telephone service, cable television, radio, television, wireless telecommunications and, more recently, emerg­ing advanced telecommunications technologies and services. Separate from the FCC, however, the White House with support from the Department of Commerce retained a role in management of the Federal government’s use of radio spectrum, and in the development of executive branch policies related to communications, for another 44 years.

Innovation in electronic communications continued to progress during the 1940s. The need to deliver television signals to communities in remote mountain areas led to the early development of community antenna television (CATV) systems, which, with the adoption of coaxial cable, and more recently fiber optic cable, would later evolve into the modern cable television systems that now compete with telephone companies to deliver video, voice, and data services to customers. It was also during this decade that radio and telephony intersected with the invention of the transistor and the advent of mobile radiotelephone technology. Broader commercial and public use of mobile telephone service began in the 1970s, and the first commercial cellular networks were developed in 1982 and 1983. By 2004, wireless subscribership in the United States had exceeded 180 million.

The first experimental communications satellite was launched in 1962. It was the first satellite to receive, amplify, and simultaneously re-transmit signals from earth. The development of satellite communications available not only to governments but also the commercial sector and individuals led to even greater volumes of communications worldwide.

As noted above, for most of the 20th Century, the White House directly managed executive branch communications policy and the Federal government’s use of the radio spectrum, supported by the Department of Commerce. In 1978, however, the Carter Administration disaggregated and reorganized telecommunications functions within the Executive Branch. In Executive Order 12046, President Carter dissolved the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy (OTP) and trans­ferred its responsibilities, respectively, either to the Commerce Department or back to the President for re-delegation to other components within his Executive Office.

Responsibility for Federal radio spectrum management and development and presentation of telecommunications and information policies on behalf of the Executive Branch were transferred to the Commerce Department, and a new agency, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), was established to perform them. These responsibilities were codified by the NTIA Organization Act in 1992. By contrast, OTP’s responsibility to advise the President, and develop and establish policies, regarding procurement and management of Federal telecommuni­cations systems, were reassigned to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Similarly, OTP’s responsibilities relating to emergency and national security communications were reassigned to the National Security Council (NSC) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).