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[Commentary] Since 1974, when the Justice Department sued to break up the Ma Bell phone monopoly, Americans have been told that competition in telecommunications would produce innovation, better service and lower prices. What we’ve witnessed instead is low-quality service and prices that are higher than a truly competitive market would bring. After a brief fling with competition, ownership has reconcentrated into a stodgy duopoly of Bell Twins — AT&T and Verizon. Now, thanks to new government rules, each in effect has become the leader of its own cartel.

The AT&T-DirectTV and Verizon-Bright House-Cox-Comcast-TimeWarner behemoths market what are known as “quad plays”: the phone companies sell mobile services jointly with the “triple play” of Internet, telephone and television connections, which are often provided by supposedly competing cable and satellite companies. And because AT&T’s and Verizon’s own land-based services operate mostly in discrete geographic markets, each cartel rules its domain as a near monopoly. The result of having such sweeping control of the communications terrain, naturally, is that there is little incentive for either player to lower prices, make improvements to service or significantly invest in new technologies and infrastructure. And that, in turn, leaves American consumers with a major disadvantage compared with their counterparts in the rest of the world. The remedy for anti-consumer practices is straightforward: bring back real competition to the telecom industry. The Federal Communications Commission, the Justice Department and lawmakers have long said this is their goal. But absent new rules that promote vigorous competition among telecom companies, it simply won’t happen.

[Commentary] When a disaster strikes, access to communi­cations and high-tech ­infrastructure is critical for ­saving lives and mobilizing relief efforts. But as we saw a few weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy rendered inoperable the phone lines and computer networks that people needed to call for help and reach loved ones. In the storm’s aftermath many remained unable to access local and federal aid or even find out where they could get gasoline. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Just as the National Guard can be called upon to provide emergency relief, there are thousands of technology professionals ready, willing and able to volunteer their skills to rebuild crucial technology infrastructure in times exactly like these. These men and women could help build emergency cellphone towers and set up mesh Wi-Fi networks. They could assist government agencies to build and maintain the information systems that are needed to locate, manage and deploy food and ­water, tents and electric generators, and to help health workers keep track of drugs and other critical medical supplies. They also can help small ­businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations get their own ­information networks back online and functioning quickly. NET Guard teams could also work with federal, state and local officials on emergency-communication plans that could be put into motion even before a major storm hit, or immediately after an unexpected disaster like an earthquake or terrorist attack. No one questions the need to keep the phone systems running—and it is equally critical that the nation has a means for getting Internet-based communications systems up and running when they go down after a disaster. Information technology is not just about cool smartphones, tablets and computers. Today it is also about providing and ­delivering crucial information that can save lives, save property, and help ­rebuild faster when it matters most. The Obama administration now has dramatic evidence of the need to set up a NET Guard to help victims of future disasters recover and reconstruct their lives.

Two and a half weeks after Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced an inquiry into e-mail exchanges between Gen. John R. Allen of the Marines and a socialite in Tampa, Fla., some 15 investigators working seven days a week in the Pentagon inspector general’s office have narrowed their focus to 60 to 70 e-mails that “bear a fair amount of scrutiny,” a defense official said.

The defense official, who asked not to be named because of the nature of the inquiry, said investigators were trying to determine whether the e-mails violated Defense Department policy, government regulations or military law. A law enforcement official has described some of them as sexually explicit. Pentagon officials briefed on the matter say they have been told that half a dozen are embarrassing. But General Allen’s associates say they are innocuous and contain little beyond language like “you’re a sweetheart.”

Ohio State Law professor Peter Swire has agreed to step in to try to salvage contentious negotiations between privacy advocates and the online advertising industry over how to block unwanted online tracking. However, the appointment of Prof Swire, who served as chief counselor for privacy in the Clinton Administration, is unlikely to result in a do-not-track deal by the end of this year, as previously promised. Both the online ad industry and privacy advocates said the appointment of Swire as co-chair of World Wide Web Consortiums’ Tracking Protection Working Group was unlikely to be enough to save the effort.