Deck 4: Structure of Communication Technology Industries

Question 1

The company you know today at "AT&T" started out as:

A) MCI
B) SBC
C) Cellular One
D) Bell Canada

Answer 1

SBC

Question 2

AT&T's 1982 divestiture plan:

A) Was created by AT&T to separate the monopoly local telephone business from the competitive long-distance and manufacturing businesses.
B) Was forced by the Department of Justice to reduce the price of long-distance service.
C) Was forced by the International Telecommunication Union to keep AT&T from dominating world markets.
D) Was forced by Judge Greene to protect the telephone directory business.

Answer 2

Was created by AT&T to separate the monopoly local telephone business from the competitive long-distance and manufacturing businesses.

Question 3

What is the role of "distribution" in the telecommunication industry?

A) Distribution is not considered part of the telecommunications industry.
B) Distribution always comes before production.
C) Distribution is the least profitable organizational function.
D) Distribution frequently has multiple layers, including national and local distribution.

Answer 3

Distribution frequently has multiple layers, including national and local distribution.

Question 4

Disintermediation is:

A) The process of eliminating layers of distribution between producers and consumers.
B) The elimination of corporate conflicts to aid distribution of products.
C) Subject to the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.
D) The process of settling disputes between producers and distributors.

Question 5

The "diffusion threshold" is achieved when:

A) Technical standards have been established.
B) More than fifteen percent of consumers have adopted a technology.
C) All of the production and distributions functions for hardware and software are served by at least one company.
D) The doors of a new store are opened for business.

Question 6

The big long-term winner in the introduction of personal computers in the last century was:

A) IBM
B) Microsoft
C) Apple
D) Google

Question 7

The newspaper industry:

A) Has been fatally wounded by the Internet.
B) Is reinventing itself with new distribution technologies.
C) Has never been profitable in the U.S.
D) Led technological innovation during the 20^th century.

Question 8

The "Principle of Relative Constancy" teaches us that:

A) New media technologies must capture revenue and market share from the competition.
B) There is always money available to be spent on new media.
C) The regulation of communication technologies is relatively stable over time.
D) The price of technology is relatively stable over time.

Question 9

Discuss why it is important to understand the distribution function in order to understand communication technologies.

Question 10

Choose any emerging communication technology and apply pre-diffusion theory to make a set of predictions about the future of the technology.