The Trump-FCC-AT&T-Et Al. Plan
By Bruce Kushnik 11/10/2017 03:10 am ET; Link to original article
Note: In Part I laid out how the FCC, which has oversight over most of the phone and cable companies’ business, has been captured by AT&T, Verizon et al. Chairman Pai is a former Verizon attorney; Commissioner Carr worked with Verizon, AT&T, and the wireless and phone associations as a lawyer for Wiley Rein, and Commissioner O’Reilly is a friend of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which creates model legislation designed and funded, in large part, by Verizon and AT&T. Since the companies helped to position this FCC takeover, they have also helped to create a voting-block that gives this Gang of 3 the ability to control, not only the agenda, but also the outcome and make it biased towards the companies’ wishes and against the Public’s interests.
The “Wheel of Mis-Fortune” is Insidious and Harmful
We uncovered that the FCC et al. have created a series of interconnected proposed rules, regulations and actions. Unfortunately, we, the public, are now facing at least 10-20+ different cuts into the public interest, (depending on how you count). Killing off net neutrality is just one of the many planned harms. While none of this is new, it is now a concealed, heavily-funded and very well coordinated plan, aided by the ability of the companies to control the FCC’s votes.
Primary Goals: AT&T and Verizon plan to be wireless-only entertainment companies. To get there the plan is to:
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Shut off the retail to-the-home Wireline networks and force customers onto more expensive wireless networks to their homes.
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Privatize the majority of the publicly owned Wireline networks as “Business Data Services” so the Telecoms are free to charge whatever prices they wish for access by their competitors.
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Get rid of all regulator obligations and constraints, from Title II duties: from financial accounting, to net neutrality, customer privacy and many others.
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Use the FCC, not market forces, to push through this plan.
Each of these goals have specific FCC proceedings that are designed to move a slice of the agenda forward. The Telecom companies aim to get their way with little or no consideration of the customers, municipalities or the public good.
The Trump-FCC-AT&T Et Al. Wheel of Misfortune
Before we detail the current FCC proceedings, let’s do a summary and go around the Wheel of Mis-Fortune clockwise. The Telcos use (and the FCC allows them to use) manipulated accounting to make the Wireline networks "look" unprofitable and the Wireless networks to "look" much more profitable than they are. We will connect the dots to the actual FCC dockets in a moment.
Continue reading “The Insidious Wheel of Misfortune”
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