$200 Billion Broadband Scandal

(Contact Info at the end)

Details about the book, chapters, blog/media, highlights, etc.
http://www.newnetworks.com/broadbandscandals.htm

New investigative ebook offers a micro-history of how the Bell companies' (Verizon, SBC, Qwest, and BellSouth) failure to deliver on their promised fiber optic broadband deployments harmed America's economy and cost customers money --- over $200 billion.

• New York Times: "A Rant. All 406 Pages of It."; "Enron? Worldcom? No. It's much, much larger than those..."
• Muniwireless: "it's a powerful critique documenting the trail of broken promises and misinformation."
• Harold Feld, Media Access "meticulously documents how the incumbent telcos have used the promise of broadband to win subsidies and regulatory goodies."
• Good Morning Silicon Alley "A damning list of indictments, and one that puts the telcos' demands for a two-tiered Internet in harsh perspective."
  

New York: America is 16th in the world in broadband and the current US DSL offerings are 100
times slower than other countries such has Japan and Korea and even Slovenia. How did we go from Number 1 in the web to 16th in broadband and falling? Meanwhile, SBC and Verizon claim that they need to charge Google and others to build the new fiber networks, net neutrality be damned.

Broadband Scandals is ripped out of the current headlines. A well-documented expose, with 406 pages and 528 footnotes, and using the phone companies' own words (and well as other sources), the book outlines how the Bell companies received billions of dollars per state to build fiber optic networks that customers never received.

By 2006, 86 million households should have had a service capable of 45 Mbps in both directions, (to and from the customer) could handle over 500 channels of high quality video and be deployed in rural, urban and suburban areas equally. And these networks were open to ALL competition.

DSLPrime, Broadband Reports, Cook, Voic.us, Sociate ---- "talented, persistent, honest"... "brilliantly documented this fraud" ... "stunning in its implications." "Anyone who wants the U.S. to thrive in this connected future should read Kushnick's book."

It's one of the largest scandals in American history and it's never been told, but it impacts every aspect of the future of telecommunications and broadband in America from municipalities laying fiber or building Wi-fi networks, the issues surrounding "Net Neutrality", "VOIP", "cable services", the cost of local phone service, the new digital divide, and even America's economic growth.

• Are customers owed $2000 for a fiber optic service they paid for but never received? Did towns and cities, libraries and schools, government agencies, and every residential and business customer subsidize new networks that never showed up?
• Did America lose $5 trillion in economic growth, $500 billion annually, because of these missing networks?
• The World is Laughing at US. Korea and Japan have 100 Mbps services at $40 as standard. America's DSL is 100 times slower.

Broadband Scandals delivers serious revelations

• Case Studies: New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Texas and Pennsylvania. - State-by-state the book outlines the same pattern of deception. By 2010, 100% of New Jersey is supposed to have 45 Mbps services. By 2000, California should have had 5.5 million homes completed. Each state paid billions for services they never received.
• Verizon's "FIASCO" and SBC's' "Dim-Speed": Verizon and SBC are rolling out new fiber optic services but want the laws changed again. These services are crippled, closed networks that do not fulfill the state obligations, like New Jersey, and can't compete globally.
• Verizon's FIOS's top speed is only 35% of the Asian standard, and yet it cost $199 vs Korea and Japan --- 100 Mbps for $40. SBC' Lightspeed still isn't ready for primetime.
• DSL was a "bait and switch". It travels over the old copper wiring and didn't need changes in state law. In fact, DSL was considered too slow and inferior by the Bell companies in 1991!
• Fake and co-opted consumer groups, biased non-profit think tanks and lobbyists are now the major force in broadband regulation and policy. The book exposes groups like Consumers for Cable Choice, TRAC, APT, Issue Dynamics and New Millennium Council and how these groups are attempting to block muni from offering new services to harming VOIP.
• New Neutrality? Hogwash: Customers funded OPEN networks.
• Municipalities Wiring/Wi-fiing? The Bells had their chance and never showed up.

Broadband Scandal's conclusion: Publicly paid for infrastructure is being held hostage and needs to be freed. Customers funded the fiber optic networks and the Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) should be opened to ALL competition with strict rules of Net Neutrality. The Bells have harmed America's economic growth and our global competitiveness.

Massive Refunds? .Investigate all of the monies collected in the name of fiber optic broadband in America. These investigations should include how the Bells improperly funded their DSL and long distance rollouts. The Bells should be forced to give refunds or give the money to municipalities to upgrade the networks.

Author. According to Broadband Reports: "Bruce Kushnick has been dubbed everything from the 'Leading Visionary in the Telecom Industry' to a 'Phone Bill Fanatic'; but what's certain is that nobody in the industry is ignoring him." Kushnick has been a telecom analyst for 24 years, and is one of the founders of Teletruth, an independent customer advocacy group focusing on broadband and telecom issues, as well as executive director of New Networks Institute, a market research firm.

Teletruth was a member of the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee in 2003-2004 and has active cases with the IRS, FCC and FTC pertaining to broadband and the cost of the networks. Research through Teletruth's phone bill auditing services has led to class action suits and major refunds for phone bill overcharging,

Ebook only: $20
406 pages, 528 Footnotes, 72 Exhibits.

Contact: Kelly Deegan, kelly@teletruth.org
Bruce Kushnick, bruce@teletruth.org 718-238-7191