OPERATIONS SYSTEMS - A PERSPECTIVE

The U.S. communications industry today is experiencing great change. T elecommunications companies are vying with-and in some cases merging w ith or acquiring-cable television companies to bring interactive broad band services into the home. Computer companies are developing product s to provide video-conferencing and other interactive broadband capabi lities. In Washington, lawmakers are grappling with such issues as the ''Information Highway,'' loop communication, access, local service mo nopolies, and equipment manufacturing. One result is that the telecomm unications industry will soon evolve into a new industry, with less re gulation and more intense competition. These developments will lead to rapid technological innovation and plummeting prices-the same phenome na that shaped the computing industry in recent years. Like other part s of the telecommunications industry, operations systems will be drama tically affected by these events. To respond to the changes and to rem ain innovative and competitive, AT&T's Operations Systems Business Uni t (OSBU) is revamping not only its methods for developing software, bu t its entire business strategy.