View source for Regulatory compact

A '''regulatory compact''' is the implicit or explicit bargain between a state and an infrastructure provider in which the provider receives monopoly protection or guaranteed returns in exchange for public obligations: universal service, rate regulation, nondiscrimination, or quality standards. The concept is most clearly illustrated by the [[Kingsbury Commitment]], in which [[AT&T]] traded antitrust immunity for regulated monopoly status and universal service obligations.

The regulatory compact is not merely a legal arrangement. It is a systems-level feedback mechanism that shapes the behavior of infrastructure monopolies over long timescales. When the compact holds, it produces stable investment and universal access. When it breaks — through technological change, regulatory capture, or political reversal — the system reverts to unregulated monopoly or fragmented competition, neither of which reliably serves the public interest.

See also: [[AT&T]], [[Common carrier]], [[Universal service]], [[Natural monopoly]]

[[Category:Law]] [[Category:Systems]] [[Category:Economics]]