Retrospective technology assessment: The impacts of computer communications on the structure of the public telephone network

Abstract A large number of private networks have appeared because of the inefficiency of the public telephone network to carry data. This article tries to estimate the impacts of computer communications on the public network in terms of its structure and transmissions capacity by employing the retrospective technology assessment. It is found that the public telephone network will be the backbone for the future telecommunications network. The competition policy has prompted the public network to enhance its transmission capacity to satisfy the demands of data users.