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Communications in the United States
Articles to be expanded from January 2011
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The primary regulator of communications in the United States is the Federal Communications Commission. It closely regulates all of the industries mentioned below with the exception of newspapers and the Internet service provider industry.
[edit] History
The logo for The New York Times, an American newspaper.
Newspapers declined in their influence and penetration into American households in the late 20th century. Most newspapers are local, having little circulation outside their particular metropolitan area. The closest thing to a national paper the U.S. has is USA Today. Other influential dailies include the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal which are sold in most U.S. cities. The Times has a moderate-left stance, while the Journal is moderate-right and is strongly pro-business.
The largest newspapers (by circulation) in the United States are USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.
The legal monopoly of the government-owned United States Postal Service has narrowed during the 20th and 21st centuries, although the USPS, through whose hands passes 40% of the world's mail,[citation needed] still delivers more mail in four days than is delivered by DHL Express, FedEx, and the United Parcel Service in one year.[citation needed]
[edit] Telephone
Telephone system:
General assessment: A large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system.
Domestic: A large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country.
International: Country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000).
[edit] Landlines
Telephones - main lines in use: 141 million (2009)[1]
- Most of the American telephone system was formerly operated by a single monopoly, AT&T, which was split up in 1984 into a long distance telephone company and several local "Baby Bells."
- Landline telephone service continues to be divided between incumbent local exchange carriers and several competing long distance companies. As of 2005, some of the Baby Bells are beginning to merge with long distance phone companies. A small number of consumers are currently experimenting with Voice over Internet Protocol phone service.
- Most local loop service to homes is provided through old-fashioned copper wire, although many of the Baby Bells are beginning to upgrade the so-called "last mile" to fiber optic.
- Early in the 21st century the number of wire lines in use stopped growing and in some markets began to decline.[2]
[edit] Cellular communication
Telephones - mobile cellular: 286 million (2009)[1]
102.7 KIIS-FM Los Angeles is a typical American radio station.
Radio broadcast stations: AM: 4,789; FM commercial stations: 6,231; FM educational stations: 2,672; FM translators & boosters: 3,995; low-power FM stations: 675 (as of December 31, 2005, according to the Federal Communications Commission)
Radios: 575 million (1997)
[edit] Television
Television broadcast stations: 9,024 (of which 1,750 are full-power TV stations; 592 are class-A TV stations; 4,537 are TV translators; and 2,145 are other low-power TV stations) (as of December 31, 2005, according to the Federal Communications Commission); in addition, there are about 12,000 cable TV systems.
- Most local commercial television stations are owned-and-operated by or affiliated with the large national broadcast networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW. Some television networks are aimed at ethnic minorities, including Spanish language networks Univisión and Telemundo. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), is the public broadcasting network, with over 300 non-profit affiliated stations across the United States. Besides the large broadcast networks (which are free for anyone with a TV and an antenna), there are also many networks available only with a subscription to cable or satellite television, like CNN.
Televisions: 219 million (1997)
[edit] Internet
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7,600 (1999 est.)
- Because of aggressive lobbying and the United States' strong libertarian traditions, the Internet service provider industry remains relatively unregulated in comparison to other communications industries.
Country code (Top level domain): US
- For various historical reasons, the .us domain was never widely used outside of a small number of government agencies and school districts. Most companies signed up for top level domains like .com instead.
- NeuStar Inc. now has control over the .us registry and is trying to promote the domain as an option for American-oriented Web sites.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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 Tianjin 2010 - WHAT IF: the United States remains in a jobless recovery in 2011? September 15, 2010 WHAT IF: there is an emerging market crisis in 2011? It is widely assumed that investor and consumer confidence in emerging markets will remain more robust than in advanced economies for the foreseeable future. If the assumption proves wrong, how would leaders deal with this contingency? Speakers * Laura Alfaro Maykall, Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy of Costa Rica; Young Global Leader * Gerald Lawless, Executive Chairman, Jumeirah Group, United Arab Emirates * Mthuli Ncube, Chief Economist, African Development Bank (AfDB), Tunisia; Global Agenda Council on Poverty & Economic Development Moderated by * Kevin Steinberg, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Centre for Global Industries, World Economic Forum USA |  LightSquared LightSquared™, a new nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage that will revolutionize communications in the United States. |  Cell Tower Dangers Fact or Fiction?!! Dr. Jack Walker www.emfnews.org cell tower systems. How do Wireless Telephone Systems Work? Wireless telephone systems work on a different concept from radio transmission systems most people are familiar with, such as television and radio stations. In most types of radio transmission systems, the object is to transmit your signal as far as possible, in order to maximize the amount of listeners or viewers you may have. In cellular systems, the object is to transmit a controlled signal. This is done to maximize the amount of channels that are given to each cellular provider for use. Cellular systems are assigned a set number of channels for a given area, usually around 400. In order to maximize the amount of calls per given geographic area, they break the coverage area into a series of cells. Each cell can cover anywhere from a one mile radius from the base station in the city and urban areas to a 10 mile radius in the countryside and rural areas. Usually an arrangement of seven repeating cells is used, with 50 or 60 channels used per cell. As you move a mobile phone between these cells, the mobile phone is 'handed off' between the cell sites and channels, being controlled by the mobile telephone switching office (MTSO), or mobile switching center (MSC). This makes use of the most important part of the cellular system, frequency re-use. There are only a limited amount of channels available in any cellular system, and this system makes the same channel available in different geographic ... |  ELA PARTIU - TIM MAIA - (1975) TIM MAIA (Portuguese pronunciation: [tʃĩ majɐ]; September 28, 1942 -- March 15, 1998), born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia in Rio de Janeiro, was a famous Brazilian musician known for his iconoclastic, ironic, outspoken, and polemical (but always humorous) musical style. He was also known for his habit of lightheartedly missing appointments and even important gigs. Maia performed in a variety of musical genres, ranging from happy and energetic dance music to sentimental songs such as his hit "Me Dê Motivo". He performed soul music, funk, bossa nova (in the 1990s), romantic songs, American pop, samba, baião, and Música Popular Brasileira. He frequently recorded albums and made tours alongside Banda Vitória Régia. Early career Maia wrote his earliest songs at age eight. At 14, as a drummer, he formed the group Os Tijucanos do Ritmo, which lasted one year. He then took guitar classes and was soon teaching children in the neighborhood of Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro, including the Matoso gang (Maia, Jorge Ben, Erasmo Esteves, later Erasmo Carlos, and several others), named after the street where they used to hang out. In that period, Maia was the guitar teacher of Esteves and when Roberto Carlos joined the gang in 1958, he also took classes with him. Maia and Carlos (together with Edson Trindade, Arlênio Lívio, and José Roberto "China") formed the group The Sputnikis, playing balls and performing on television (including on Carlos Imperial's Clube do Rock on TV Continental, where ... |  USPS Station and Branch Optimization Initiative and Delivery Route Adjustments (Part 2) USPS Station and Branch Optimization Initiative and Delivery Route Adjustments (Part 2) - House Oversight Committee - 2009-07-30 - House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled: "Making Sense of It All: An Examination of USPSs Station and Branch Optimization Initiative and Delivery Route Adjustments." The hearing will examine the recently-proposed initiative to study the activities of nearly 3200 postal stations and branches across the country for consolidation purposes, as well as examine other USPS cost cutting and consolidation-related efforts, including mail delivery route adjustments and related impacts. Video provided by the US House of Representatives. | |
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Washington Post
Mon, 21 May 2012 15:57:57 -0700
They gave the attorney general and the director of national intelligence broad powers to monitor communications in the United States, as long as one party in the communication was abroad and the targets were foreigners believed to be outside the United ...
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MarketWatch (press release)
Mon, 21 May 2012 10:01:41 -0700
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $49 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States ...
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MarketWatch (press release)
Thu, 17 May 2012 07:02:30 -0700
... Inc., a $48 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells a range of stylish and innovative home entertainment products, mobile phones, ...
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MarketWatch (press release)
Mon, 14 May 2012 05:03:06 -0700
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $49 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States ...
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MarketWatch (press release)
Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:32:32 -0700
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a$49 billion global force and technology leader in consumer electronics, home appliances and mobile communications. In the United States, ...
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Colombia Reports
Wed, 09 May 2012 07:51:40 -0700
She speaks fluent English and was pursuing a degree in Performing Arts and Social Communications in the United States before interrupting her studies to come to her home country to pursue the crown.
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