,608 Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin 10/03 19,473 Qwest Arizona 12/03 2,901 Total approved through June 2002 (percent of 59,848 U.S. total, excluding Alaska and Hawaii) (36.3) Source: FCC, RBOC Applications to Provide In-region, InterLATA Services under I 271 (www.fcc.gov/ Bureaus/Common_Carrier/in-region_applications/); FCC, Statistics of Communications Common Carriers, 2001-02 edition. Effect of the 1996 Act on Incumbent Local Companies Table 5-3. Measures of Equity Risk in Various Industries Sector Range of betas Bell companies 0.8-1.0 Large trucking companies 0.3-1.3 Four major railroads 0.4-0.6 Major airlines 1.0-2.8 CLECs 1.0-4.5 Long-distance companies 0.7-1.4 Source: http://quote.yahoo.com (July 11, 2004). regulatory approval to begin offering interLATA long-distance services in all of the remaining states, and in February 2003 they received some relief from the FCC on the requirements for unbundling and line sharing for broad- band (see chapter 2). Finally, in early 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals over- turned the FCC's attempt to retain the unbundling regime that permits competitors to lease the entire UNE platform. Before 2002 the only major segment of domestic telecommunications that the Bell companies had been able to enter without the restraint of reg- ulation was commercial wireless service (cellular). These wireless opera- tions have accounted for between 15 and 30 percent of the companies' market value since 1996. Until recently, the remainder had been a no- growth, "public utility" business that was relatively secure, unexciting, and almost devoid of incentives to innovate. The best evidence of this situation is to be found in the financial markets' evaluation of the risk of investing in their equities. As table 5-3 shows, the Bell companies' equities have beta values of risk somewhat less than 1.0. The higher the beta measure, the greater is the market's view of the risk in holding the company's shares.7 A beta of 1.0 is average for all traded risky assets. Two firms with beta values close t