Government can’t afford to pay for a data superhighway, … a viable network could be fashioned much less expensively from the current telephone network.
Predictor: Long-Distance Phone Companies
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 New York Times article, John Markoff writes about the position taken by the nation’s initial telephony big-shots in the planning for the information superhighway: ”Amid all the sweetness and light at Bill Clinton’s seminar on the economy last month came a not-so-harmonious exchange between Robert E. Allen, chief executive at AT&T, and Al Gore, then vice president-elect … Mr. Gore said the enormous network of fiberoptic cable and sophisticated switches should be built by the government. Mr. Allen disagreed … On AT&T’s side are the nation’s other long-distance phone companies, which own and operate the nation’s voice communications network quite profitably and stand to lose big if they suddenly face competition from a more advanced network they don’t control. They argue that the data superhighway should be built, owned and operated by private companies, including themselves. Agreeing with the long-distance carriers is a diverse group including opponents of industrial policy and those who say that government can’t afford to pay for a data superhighway, that a viable network could be fashioned much less expensively from the current telephone network.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: New York Times
Title, headline, chapter name: Building the Electronic Superhighway
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=06df318c7c877e4f99b4d681fd5d7d8a&_docnum=11&wchp=dGLbVzb-lSlAl&_md5=fe0727c350edc2a7ea67660126e27835
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney