TRAC: Telecommunications Research & Action Center

TRAC's mission for the last five years has been to make the competitive long distance carriers, AT&T, MCI, and Sprint, look bad and help the Bell companies enter long distance. And it is funded by the Bell companies through Issue Dynamics. Go through the site TRAC site and look for examples of the site questioning the actions of Verizon, BellSouth or SBC.

Tax Exempt:

• "TRAC is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, membership organization."

TRAC and Issue Dynamics: (Source: IRS nonprofit submissions, 1999-2002)

"During the year, TRAC purchased goods and services from an affiliated taxable organization named Issue Dynamics, inc. Issue Dynamics, Inc. provider management services as well as overhead costs for fees to TRAC."

Board of Advisors

• Samuel A. Simon, Chairman, President Issue Dynamics.
• Henry Geller has served on the TRAC Board for nearly ten years
• Henry Geller of Counsel to the Alliance for Public Technology, funded by Bells
• Rev. Dr. Everett Parker is the founder and former director of the Office of Comm. of the United Church of Christ (UCC), funded by Bells, among others.
• Rev. Robert Chase, is Minister and Team Leader of the Proclamation, Identity and Communication Ministry of the United Church of Christ.
• Dirck A. Hargraves, Secretary and Counsel serves as Secretary and Counsel to TRAC. He served as president of the Alexandria, Virginia Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is currently general counsel and senior consultant with Issue Dynamics, Inc.

In 2002, TRAC made $19,600, had $47,000 of expenses, and owed Issue Dynamics and others $122,000 in liabilities.

How does a nonprofit run at such as large loss for years and is there co-mingling of funds from Issue Dynamics, a for-profit company?

Bad Data and Paid to Get the Bells Into Long Distance

TRAC published a large number or "Reports", all claiming that the Bell companies should enter long distance: Here's some releases: one from Verizon using the TRAC report, one from another fake group called "Idahoans for Telecommunications Competition" that using these reports as 'data', a TRAC filing in New Jersey, and press releases about Verizon entering the New York market.

• Verizon Asks SCC to Support Company's Request to Offer Long Distance in Virginia: Filing Brings Virginians Step Closer to Full Telecom Competition 3/15/02
• "A study by the consumer organization Telecommunications Research and Action Center (TRAC) estimated that New Yorkers are saving up to $700 million a year in local and long-distance charges since Verizon began providing long-distance service in the Empire State in January 2000. Another TRAC study forecasted that Pennsylvanians could save up to $452 million in the first year after Verizon began offering long-distance service there last October.".
• Consumers in 4 States Could Save $1.7 Billion Idahoans for Telecommunications Competition - More IDI Skunkworks (see glossy PDF newsletter)"A new study by (TRAC) found that consumers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida and Georgia could save at least $507 million and up to $1.73 billion on local phone and long distance service after one year of increased competition."

  "The evidence is clear and compelling: open entry for all competitors in the long distance market can result in significant savings for consumers," TRAC Chairman Samuel A. Simon

• TRAC files at the FCC on Behalf of Verizon, New Jersey. PDF
• TRAC ESTIMATES NEW YORK CONSUMERS SAVE UP TO $700 MILLION A YEAR ON LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE CALLING (doc.)
• Telephone Competition Rings Up Big Savings in New York New Yorkers Save About $220 Million A Year TRAC Urges Industry & Regulators To Speed Up Competition, September 06, 2000
• "TRAC, the nation's leading telecommunications focused consumer group, has been publishing long distance rate comparisons for consumers and small businesses since 1984. The two new studies update similar New York surveys in 1999 and 2000."

TRAC "source" code on the releases: It is clear from the HTML source code that TRAC is being supported by Issue Dynamics. It reads:  "Designed and developed by Issue Dynamics, Inc. For more information see http://idi.net."

Who Paid for this TRAC New Jersey Report and Others? (doc) TRAC lost money every year and didn't even make back its management running expenses. Then who paid for this report to be created and marketed?

Questionable Research: A Serious Analysis:

Worth Reading: Testimony by Economics & Technology

 (PDF: Contains 1999 IRS Filing, showing losses)

This testimony by Economics & Technology for Verizon's entry into long distance in Virginia in 2002, clearly outlined how TRAC was not a true consumer group and that their entire report series to allow the phone companies into long distance was simply bad research. We note that this testimony was for paid for by AT&T. However, we independently confirmed the analysis, and Economics & Technology is a respected, read ethical, telecom research firm.

"The study's various assertions and assumptions, and the conclusions based thereon, are demonstrably false." Economics & Technology

"The so called consumer group that released these long distance studies, TRAC, is actually the creation of a Washington, DC public relations firm who's clients include Verizon, all of the other Bell companies, and the Bell companies' lobbying organization, the United States Telephone Association."

Other TRAC Activities: Ethic in Telecommunications?

This lecture series has serious speakers. However, it is sponsored by TRAC and the United Church of Christ, and funded by the Bell companies to look ethical.

 The Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture

Sam Takes the Consumer Groups to Fight For Bell Broadband.

What do all of these groups have in common?

• Gray Panthers
• American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
• Black Leadership Forum
• League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

This group jointly signed an ex parte letter to the FCC that says --- the Bell companies shouldn't have to open their fiber-optic networks to competition. Why is it important for these groups to support the Bell companies and why would they care? Well, work by Ionary Consulting revealed that these groups got large donations from Verizon:

• $50,000 to the Black Leadership Forum
• $205,500 to LULAC
• AAPD got "major" donations from both Verizon and the Verizon Foundation, and put a Verizon VP on its own board.

Is it any wonder that these groups met with Commissioner Martin and Commission Abernathy at the FCC? Here's letters disclosing that they met with commissioners and staff, as well as presenting a summary about policies the FCC should follow about broadband.

• Commissioner Martin and staff.
• Commissioner Abernathy and staff.
• The Groups' position -- the Bell position.

What was probably not mentioned anywhere is that these groups most likely did NOT disclose that they were funded by the phone companies, even though they were dressed as consumer groups, representing blacks, seniors, Hispanics, and people with disabilities.