The topic of the 1997 Conference, "Competition, Innovation, and Investment in Telecommunications," reflects one of the important areas for concern in the telecommunications community. Representatives of telecommunications carriers, cable industries, consumer, academic, and regulatory bodies at the federal, state, and local levels, worked together over four days to define the difficult issues inherent in these issues and suggest practical resolution of these dilemmas. In this report, the rapporteur for the Conference records some suggestions that reflect group consensus as well as some issues in which no consensus was reached, reflecting the diverse positions held within the telecommunications industry. The following topics are highlighted in the report: barriers to investment; regulatory reform; regulatory treatment of new investment by incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs); regulating wholesale pricing by ILECs; regulating retail pricing by ILECs; taxes and rents on telecommunications imposed by local governments; and public investment in telecommunications infrastructure. "An Essay on Competition, Innovation, and Investment in Telecommunications" (Dale N. Hatfield and David E. Gardner) and a list of conference participants are appended. Author profiles, previous publications, and a description of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program are also included. (AEF)