The small providers, taking advantage of new technologies and recognizing market opportunities, have gotten to the market first. Utilizing the capabilities of the major switch vendors, however, I estimate that the large operator service providers are only six to twelve months behind. The biggest and easiest target, long distance service, was the first target. MFS and other CAPs are working their way into local service. Toll and Assist operator service became competitive with the introduction of competitive aggregation.
Directory assistance is poised to follow.
The first to go will be cellular DA as competitive providers offer service that will allow carriers to differentiate themselves against their competition. Once a database has been established by a competitive DA provider, a logical next market would be serving IXC DA calls. I will continue to try to analyze the present and future in this dynamic industry. Tom Feist of Feist Publications, Inc. and Kyler Knobbe, who represented Feist before the U.S. Supreme Court in Feist Publications Inc. vs. The Rural Telephone Service, have refined my understanding of the Court's decision in this 1991 case. This decision should not be construed as demeaning Rural's efforts in compiling its directory, but rather as making clear that copyright rewards originality, not effort.