Bill Frezza's History of Telecom Innovation (and Not)
This Thanksgiving, try asking a college-aged relative whether they know it used to be illegal to own a phone. Today's smart-phone-owning young people do not remember the bygone era (pre-90s) when you had to rent it from the phone utility, Bell Labs. Real Clear Radio Hour host Bill Frezza has asked college audiences this question many times, as he has waged his one-man-fight to preserve institutional knowledge of the telecommunications industry. A long-time employee of Bell Labs and keen observer of the booming tech scene, Frezza knows the lore behind the stunning lack of progress under the telecom monopoly, and the amazing progress resulting from free competition. How did the industry transform from a corporate cronyist behemoth, which took seven decades to create just seven "apps", to delivering the world’s knowledge at our hip? Don’t miss Bob’s interview with Frezza, as they discuss this history, the modern development of net neutrality, and the silver lining on the regulatory clouds of ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank.