Communications in the United States - Wikipedia Communications in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Regulated by the Federal Communications Commission This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Communications in the United States" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The FCC logo. 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. Contents 1 History 2 Press 3 Mail 4 Telephone 4.1 Landlines 4.2 Cellular/Wireless communication 5 Radio 6 Television 7 Internet 8 See also 9 References History[edit] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent government agency responsible for regulating the radio, television and phone industries. The FCC regulates all interstate communications, such as wire, satellite and cable, and international communications originating or terminating in the United States. Press[edit] Main article: Newspapers in the United States 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 largest newspapers (by circulation) in the United States are USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Mail[edit] The legal monopoly of the government-owned United States Postal Service has narrowed during the 20th and 21st centuries due to competition from companies such as UPS & FedEx, although still delivers the vast majority of US mail. Telephone[edit] 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). Landlines[edit] 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 seven regional "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 providers have upgraded 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] Cellular/Wireless communication[edit] Main article: Mobile phone industry in the United States Telephones - mobile cellular: 286 million (2009)[1] Most states have several competing cellular phone networks. The major cellphone companies in the U.S. are Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Sprint Corporation, and T-Mobile US. Radio[edit] Main article: Radio in the United States Radio broadcast stations: AM: 4,669; FM commercial stations: 6,746; FM educational stations: 4,101; FM translators & boosters: 7,253; low-power FM stations: 1,678 (as of December 31, 2016, according to the Federal Communications Commission) Most broadcast stations are controlled by large media conglomerates like iHeartMedia. There are also many small independent local stations. National Public Radio (NPR) is the public radio network. Radios: 575 million (1997) Television[edit] Main article: Television in the United States Television broadcast stations: 7,533 (of which 1,778 are full-power TV stations; 417 are class-A TV stations; 3,789 are TV translators; and 1,966 are other low-power TV stations) (as of December 31, 2016, 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 the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), CBS, the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and The CW Television Network. Some television networks are aimed at ethnic minorities, including Spanish-language networks Univisión and Telemundo. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is the country's main 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) See also: List of United States broadcast television networks and List of United States cable and satellite television networks Internet[edit] Main article: Internet in the United States 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. See also[edit] Television portal United States portal Big Three television networks Cable television in the United States Communications in the United States Fourth television network High-definition television in the United States List of television stations in the United States List of United States cable and satellite television networks List of United States over-the-air television networks List of United States television markets Satellite television in the United States Television in the United States Television news in the United States United States cable news References[edit] ^ a b CIA World Fact Book, August 2009 ^ New York Times July 23 2008 v t e United States landline telephone companies Alaska Communications AT&T CenturyLink Cincinnati Bell Hawaiian Telcom Claro Puerto Rico Consolidated Communications Emery Telcom Frontier Communications GCI GTA Teleguam TDS Telecom Verizon Communications Windstream Communications v t e Internet service providers of the United States Cable ISP Adams Cable Allegiance Communications Altice USA Optimum Suddenlink Communications Armstrong Atlantic Broadband Blue Ridge Communications Blue Stream Broadstripe Buckeye Broadband Cable One Charter Spectrum Comcast Xfinity Consolidated Communications FairPoint Communications Cox Communications Docomo Pacific Emery Telcom Full Channel GCI Hargray Mediacom Midco Northland Communications OneLink Communications Satview Broadband Service Electric Shentel SRT Communications TDS Telecom TPG Grande Communications RCN Corporation Wave Broadband TruVista Communications WOW! Satellite ISP Dish (HughesNet) Exede Fiber ISP AT&T Fiber CenturyLink Cincinnati Bell Fioptics Claro Consolidated Communications FairPoint Communications Digital West EPB Frontier FiOS Google Fiber GTA Teleguam Hawaiian Telcom Midco NEP Telephone Sonic.net Stealth Communications TDS Telecom Ting Inc. Verizon FiOS Windstream Copper / DSL ISP AT&T Internet (U-Verse) CenturyLink Consolidated Communications FairPoint Communications Digital West Frontier Communications TDS Telecom Verizon Windstream Defunct ISP AGIS ANS Atala T Boston CitiNet ATMNet Excite@Home Prodigy Pure TalkUSA Texas.net WorldWide Access v t e Television in the United States Stations and networks Over-the-air television networks ABC CBS NBC Fox Stations Cable and satellite Networks High-definition Channels Awards and events Emmy Award Primetime Daytime International Sports News & Documentary Technology & Engineering Sylvania Award Directors Guild of America Award Producers Guild of America Award Writers Guild of America Award Golden Globes Screen Actors Guild Awards TCA Awards Critics' Choice TV Award Peabody Award People's Choice Awards NAACP Image Awards Eddie Awards Artios Award American Society of Cinematographers Awards Humanitas Prize ADG Excellence in Production Design Award Hugo Award Visual Effects Society Awards Golden Reel Award GLAAD Media Award MTV Movie & TV Awards MTV Fandom Awards Organizations Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers American Society of Cinematographers Directors Guild of America Federal Communications Commission Motion Picture Association of America National Association of Broadcasters National Cable & Telecommunications Association Paley Center for Media Producers Guild of America SAG-AFTRA Writers Guild of America, East Writers Guild of America, West v t e Telecommunications in the Americas North America Caribbean Central America Northern America South America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands US Virgin Islands v t e Telecommunications History Beacon Broadcasting Cable protection system Cable TV Communications satellite Computer network Data compression audio DCT image video Digital media Internet video online video platform social media streaming Drums Edholm's law Electrical telegraph Fax Heliographs Hydraulic telegraph Information Age Information revolution Internet Mass media Mobile phone Smartphone Optical telecommunication Optical telegraphy Pager Photophone Prepaid mobile phone Radio Radiotelephone Satellite communications Semaphore Semiconductor device MOSFET transistor Smoke signals Telecommunications history Telautograph Telegraphy Teleprinter (teletype) Telephone The Telephone Cases Television digital streaming Undersea telegraph line Videotelephony Whistled language Wireless revolution Pioneers Nasir Ahmed Edwin Howard Armstrong Mohamed M. Atalla John Logie Baird Paul Baran John Bardeen Alexander Graham Bell Emile Berliner Tim Berners-Lee Francis Blake (telephone) Jagadish Chandra Bose Charles Bourseul Walter Houser Brattain Vint Cerf Claude Chappe Yogen Dalal Donald Davies Amos Dolbear Thomas Edison Lee de Forest Philo Farnsworth Reginald Fessenden Elisha Gray Oliver Heaviside Robert Hooke Erna Schneider Hoover Harold Hopkins Gardiner Greene Hubbard Internet pioneers Bob Kahn Dawon Kahng Charles K. Kao Narinder Singh Kapany Hedy Lamarr Innocenzo Manzetti Guglielmo Marconi Robert Metcalfe Antonio Meucci Jun-ichi Nishizawa Charles Grafton Page Radia Perlman Alexander Stepanovich Popov Tivadar Puskas Johann Philipp Reis Claude Shannon Almon Strowger Henry Sutton Charles Sumner Tainter Nikola Tesla Camille Tissot Alfred Vail Thomas Augustus Watson Charles Wheatstone Vladimir K. Zworykin Transmission media Coaxial cable Fiber-optic communication optical fiber Free-space optical communication Molecular communication Radio waves wireless Transmission line data transmission circuit telecommunication circuit Network topology and switching Bandwidth Links Nodes terminal Network switching circuit packet Telephone exchange Multiplexing Space-division Frequency-division Time-division Polarization-division Orbital angular-momentum Code-division Concepts Communication protocols Computer network Data transmission Store and forward Telecommunications equipment Types of network Cellular network Ethernet ISDN LAN Mobile NGN Public Switched Telephone Radio Television Telex UUCP WAN Wireless network Notable networks ARPANET BITNET CYCLADES FidoNet Internet Internet2 JANET NPL network Usenet Locations (by regions) Africa Americas North South Antarctica Asia Europe Oceania Category Outline Portal Commons Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Communications_in_the_United_States&oldid=1002469083" Categories: Communications in the United States Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles needing additional references from October 2011 All articles needing additional references Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Português Edit links This page was last edited on 24 January 2021, at 16:35 (UTC). 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