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Headlines : CorporationsThe $200 Billion Broadband Scandal
The United States is the 19th ranked nation in household broadband connectivity rate, just ahead of Slovenia. Want to know why? Because, contends telecom analyst Bruce Kushnick, the Bell Companies never delivered symmetrical fiber-optic connectivity to millions of Americans though they were paid more than $200 billion to do it. According to Kushnick’s book, “$200 Billion Broadband Scandal”, during the buildup to the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act, the major U.S. telcos promised to deliver fiber to 86 million households by 2006 (we’re talking about fiber to the home, here). They asked for, and were given, some $200 billion in tax cuts and other incentives to pay for it. But the Bells didn’t spend that money on fiber upgrades — they spent it on long distance, wireless and inferior DSL services. Some headlines from Kushnick’s work:
* By 2006, 86 million households should have been rewired with a fiber optic wire, capable of 45 Mbps, in both directions. * The public subsidies for infrastructure were pocketed. The phone companies collected over $200 billion in higher phone rates and tax perks, about $2000 per household. * The World is Laughing at US. Korea and Japan have 100 Mbps services as standard, and America could have been Number One had the phone companies actually delivered. Instead, we are 16th in broadband and falling in technology dominance. [Posted By Maybe_Meme]Republished from Muniwireless
I was lucky enough to be able to look over an advance copy of Bruce Kushnicks new book, The $200 Billion Broadband Scandal its a powerful critique documenting the trail of broken promises and misinformation perpetrated by many broadband service providers in order to get favorable treatment, special dispensation, and competition-free access to residents across the United States. One of the most damning indictments, that United States residents have already paid for upgrades to our existing broadband infrastructure being charged for services never delivered and not a small amount either, but actually to the tune of $200,000,000,000. When you break it down, thats roughly a $2,000 refund for every household thats due for contractual obligations never fulfilled.
Heres more from todays official release:
New investigative ebook offers micro-history of Verizon, SBC, Qwest, and BellSouths (the Bell companies) fiber optic broadband promises and the consequence harms to Americas economic growth because they never delivered and kept most of the money, about $200 billion.
New York: This is one of the largest scandals in American history. America is 16th in the world in broadband and the US DSL current offerings are 100 times slower than other countries such has Japan and Korea. How did we…
Posted by Maybe_Meme
I currently spend my free time pursuing interests in pretty much everything. As a student of generalism, and a follower of Einstein's famous dictum, "everything should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler" I hope to gain a greater understanding...
See, they DON’T deserve any more damn money for their pipes… we already BOUGHT them. Assholes. Ughh, Corporations make me so mad.