America’s Communications Breakdown Needs a ‘Clean Sweep’ to Fix it.

Will They Drain the Toxic FCC Swamp?

Summary

America has a new president, and the FCC will change hands to a new Democrat FCC. But, do they have the moxie to drain the current Republican toxic dump and fix what’s broken, or will AT&T, Verizon & the cablecos take over the FCC again?

Please Sir May I have Another? (CLICK FOR FULL STORY)

We are the Diss-Connected.

• Prices in the US are 5–20 times more for wireless or the Triple Play than overseas.
• Made-up Taxes, Fees and Surcharges are all over the bills.
• Advertising, like the word ‘unlimited’, is deceptive, and no one can get service at the advertised price; it leaves out the made-up surcharges.
• The companies can say almost anything with impunity, from misrepresenting broadband and 5G deployments to even basic info, like the number of lines.
• Most hated companies in America. The ISPs, cable TV and phone companies are historically and continue to be rated by ACSI as the least liked US companies.
• The FCC has been turned into a toxic swamp. Even the Advisory Committees have been overrun with the telecom and cable associations, or coin-operated non-profits.

They Created the Digital Divide

• Verizon et al. left vast rural areas of their states to deteriorate; no upgrades.
• No Competition: This No Show means no choice or lower prices or high speed service.
• Social Injustice — Where they did upgrades, they usually left out low income and minority areas over the more wealthy neighborhoods.
• Net Neutrality and privacy are unsolved problems because there is no competition, and these few companies control the wires and ultimately the agenda.
• Roadblock: Did the Corporations-AT&T, Verizon, & CenturyLink — Create the Digital Divide on Purpose to Hold Our Communications Hostage? Read the Report.
• 5G Wireless is a Con. It has data caps, requires fiber, and is cross-subsidized. The promised super-speed is now closer to 4G plus lipstick — it is not a substitute for fiber.

FIX IT: Clean Sweep Agenda: (CLICK FOR FULL STORY)

We must reverse the outgoing FCC decisions but also take a new path to solve the Digital Divide, as well as for all of us who rely on critical wireline, wireless, broadband, internet, phone or cable service.

1) FCC Clean Sweep: No ties with the telecom/cableco for the FCC Commissioners, Chairman, advisory committees, the transition team or executive staff positions.

2) Remove ALL Made-up Taxes, Fees and Surcharges; Truth-in-Billing Now.

3) Halt all cross-subsidies between the state utility and the other subsidiaries, especially wireless.

4) Overcharging: In most states, laws were changed to charge for fiber upgrades.

5) Audit the Accounting for Malfeasance and Fraud: The FCC rules are 20 years old and they created these cross-subsidies in every state.

6) Stop the excessive profits of the ‘data wires’ (‘backhaul’) that inflates all services.

7) Rattle the Cage: Solve the Digital Divide: Get the Money Back. Billions of dollars per state are being overcharged, taking money that should have been used to wire rural areas and cities with fiber optics. Instead, the money was used to build out businesses, like wireless, or for buying media companies or overseas investments.

Break Up Big Telecom — It is Time.

8) Separate the companies’ subsidiaries and the companies’ control over the wires.

9) Halt the subsidies; use the funds to build fiber to everyone, and lower rates.

10) Cities should light up the existing dark fiber that is in the ground.

11) Open the networks to all competition as we paid for the networks to be built.

12) Solve Net Neutrality and Privacy by halting the financial ties to the utility wires.

Break Up Big Cable

13) Repeat all of these actions for the cable companies.