Impact of AT&T divestiture on American college and university campus computer networks?
All, I am currently trying to piece together a history of technologies provided in American college and university residence halls. I am particularly focusing on technologies used for non-curricular communication and entertainment such as buzzers, telephones, televisions, computer labs, and in-room network connections. I'm really interested in knowing why these technologies were introduced and supported (market forces, consumerism, experimentation, academic uses, etc.). While I certainly welcome input on the broader topic, I turn to you to recommend sources to help me understand what effect, if any, the 1984 divestiture of AT&T may have had on the development of American college and university campus computer networks and telecommunications, particularly computer networks installed in residence halls. From primary and secondary sources, I already know that some institutions (the pioneers, as far as I can tell) began installing and experimenting with in-room network connections in the mid 80s. So the timing is right and it opens the door to examine the possibility that the AT&T divestiture helped spur these particular telecoms innovations and experiments, directly or indirectly. But I need (a) a broad understanding of the impact of the breakup and (b) empirical evidence of impact made on American colleges and universities. Are there particular resources you can recommend to help me understand the impact of the AT&T breakup on large American organizations and the development of computer networks? I have a feeling that there are a handful of definitive descriptions but this is a new area for me to explore and I welcome guidance. Kevin
While I certainly welcome input on the broader topic, I turn to you to recommend sources to help me understand what effect, if any, the 1984 divestiture of AT&T may have had on the development of American college and university campus computer networks and telecommunications, particularly computer networks installed in residence halls. From primary and secondary sources, I already know that some institutions (the pioneers, as far as I can tell) began installing and experimenting with in-room network connections in the mid 80s. So the timing is right
Great topic! There were ghetto/private/totally-unauthorized networks running in the dorms at my undergrad institution a full decade (plus some...) before the dorms were formally wired by the university. RG-58 coax running down exterior drainpipes, through windows, et cetera. This stuff has been going on for ages. :-) There was some history of private CATV wiring on the same campus, also done somewhat independently... --elijah
This is a fantastic topic, and definitely post whatever output of this research topic back to the list. You might find Ed Malecki's paper on regional bandwidth provision an interesting paper. It finds a very strong correlation between the amount of bandwidth in a region and the presence of a Ph.D granting institution. Universities were usually the core around a regional network. I'm not exactly sure how it directly relates to your topic, but it might give some interesting context. The citation is Malecki, E. (2004). Fibre tracks: Explaining investment in fibre optic backbones. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 16:21–39. Cheers, Ben Spigel Department of Geography The Ohio State University On 10/16/07, elw@stderr.org <elw@stderr.org> wrote:
While I certainly welcome input on the broader topic, I turn to you to recommend sources to help me understand what effect, if any, the 1984 divestiture of AT&T may have had on the development of American college and university campus computer networks and telecommunications, particularly computer networks installed in residence halls. From primary and secondary sources, I already know that some institutions (the pioneers, as far as I can tell) began installing and experimenting with in-room network connections in the mid 80s. So the timing is right
Great topic!
There were ghetto/private/totally-unauthorized networks running in the dorms at my undergrad institution a full decade (plus some...) before the dorms were formally wired by the university. RG-58 coax running down exterior drainpipes, through windows, et cetera. This stuff has been going on for ages. :-)
There was some history of private CATV wiring on the same campus, also done somewhat independently...
--elijah _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
Living in the DC/Baltimore area with Hopkins, MD, Georgetown, GW, UMBC, George Mason, Howard and Morgan are all research intensive and there is a lot of bandwidth. I can tell you that the AT&T break up is the key to the web of today. Judge Green actually found AT&T to be a monopoly in 1982 (I believe that AT&T had been under a consent decree dating back to 1956 and the original suit was filed by MCI in 1968). I believe they were given two years to get it affairs in orders. -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Ben Spigel Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:35 PM To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-L] Impact of AT&T divestiture on American college anduniversity campus computer networks? This is a fantastic topic, and definitely post whatever output of this research topic back to the list. You might find Ed Malecki's paper on regional bandwidth provision an interesting paper. It finds a very strong correlation between the amount of bandwidth in a region and the presence of a Ph.D granting institution. Universities were usually the core around a regional network. I'm not exactly sure how it directly relates to your topic, but it might give some interesting context. The citation is Malecki, E. (2004). Fibre tracks: Explaining investment in fibre optic backbones. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 16:21-39. Cheers, Ben Spigel Department of Geography The Ohio State University On 10/16/07, elw@stderr.org <elw@stderr.org> wrote:
While I certainly welcome input on the broader topic, I turn to you to recommend sources to help me understand what effect, if any, the 1984 divestiture of AT&T may have had on the development of American college and university campus computer networks and telecommunications, particularly computer networks installed in residence halls. From primary and secondary sources, I already know
that some institutions (the pioneers, as far as I can tell) began installing and experimenting with in-room network connections in the
mid 80s. So the timing is right
Great topic!
There were ghetto/private/totally-unauthorized networks running in the
dorms at my undergrad institution a full decade (plus some...) before the dorms were formally wired by the university. RG-58 coax running down exterior drainpipes, through windows, et cetera. This stuff has been going on for ages. :-)
There was some history of private CATV wiring on the same campus, also
done somewhat independently...
--elijah _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
participants (4)
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Ben Spigel -
elw＠stderr.org -
Heidelberg, Chris -
Kevin Guidry