READING LIBRARY
- Full Bibliography, 1985-2021
- Medium: IRREGULATORS Latest
The Case to Break up Big Telecom & Cable, April 2021
- Report 1: The Case to Break Up Big Telecom (& Big Cable)
- Article: The Case to Break Up Big Telecom (& Big Cable) Let’s just call it Break Up AT&T et al…. Again
- Report 2: Harvesting and Monopoly Stranded & Harvested & the Creation of the Digital Divide.
- Article: Monopoly: Communications ‘Harvesting’ as an Antitrust Case
- Report 3: Break Up Big Telecom: $1+ Trillion in Overcharging … And Counting. Halt the Overcharging and Fix the Core Problems before America Gives AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Comcast and Charter Government Subsidies.
- Article: Break up Big Telecom: $1 Trillion in Overcharging.. And Counting.
- Report 4 Break Up AT&T Et Al. Separate the Wireless Subsidiaries from the Wireline Telecommunications Public Utilities. Get Back $100+ Billion in Underpayments & Overcharges. No More Government Subsidies.
- Article: Break UP AT&T et al. Separate the Wireless Subsidiaries from the Wireline Telecommunications Public Utilities.
- REPORT 5: What the Bell Executives Tell Investors, but Hides from the Public.
- 5G: The Wireline-Wireless Bait & Switch: Because It Makes Them More Money. A full report detailing statements of executives pertaining to the deployment of Wireless – as a money maker and highlighting what the companies do not what they tell the public.
- REPORT 6: Access Line Accounting has been Manipulated
- Bell Access Line Accounting Manipulation 1984-2018
- Description: Verizon, AT&T, CenturyLink, and their association, USTelecom, with the help of the FCC, have manipulated the basic accounting of access lines, and have removed or hidden 80% of all lines, including all Business Data Services, (special access) DSL, competitor lines, FiOS, U-Verse, all of the wires to the cell sites or WiFi hot spots, alarm circuits, and this has been done to reinforce a claim that the utility networks are unprofitable
Summary for Normal People:
Communications Prices
Wireless Prices are Out of Control
The “Triple Play” Prices are Out of Control.
Added Made Up Fees with No Audits and No Government Mandates
No Truth in Billing
- “Teletruth Proposes Truth-in-Billing Act of 2005 New Networks Institute and Teletruth petition FCC
No More Taxes, Fees, Surcharges
MARKET POWER: Takeover of FCC, State Legislatures, Media
The takeover of the FCC ro the capture and control of the Consumer Advisory Committee, as ewll as state legislatures and commissions.
- EXPOSED: Corrupt Republican FCC: Puppets of Verizon and AT&T.
- PART II: The Trump-Republican FCC Captured, Corrupted, Consumer Advisory Committee
- Teletruth and New Networks Files A Complaint Over The Industry’s Role on the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee, 2005
- Bell Skunkworks 101 Outing the connections between the companies and those they are funding, 2003
- Reverse ALEC event, Brooklyn Law School BLIP Clinic, 2013
IRREGULATORS vs FCC.
- In 2019, the IRREGULATORS took the FCC to court over the FCC accounting rules that have become deformed but are still in use. The DC Court of Appeals gave us the decision we wanted—the states are independent of using the FCC’s FCC USOA, Uniform Standard of Accounting and can go after the massive cros-subsidy scheme we uncovered.
- Big Win for America. –Implications of the case
- The History of IRREGULATORS vs FCC
- Interview: Fibergate: The Big Telecom Swindle
History of Fiber Optic Deployment Failure in America
This trilogy of books started in 1999, but the first book was based on one of the largest research projects undertaken to examine the break up of AT&T and the formation of the Bell companies, with Probe Research,1993-1995
- “The Unauthorized Bio of the Baby Bells and Info-Scandal”, Foreword by Dr. Robert Metcalfe, 1999
- “$200 Billion Broadband Scandal”, 2015
- Featured on Bill Moyer’s PBS program, “The Net at Risk”, the first national broadcast program on Net Neutrality, 2006
- “$300 Billion Broadband Scandal” – an updated edition,
- Featured with author in “The Fine Print” by Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston, 2012
- “The Book of Broken Promises: $400 Billion Broadband Scandal & Free the Net”, 2015
Broadband and Accounting States Covered
The following is a collection of states where we a) Did researched for a project b) it was part of a filing, c) tied to an action in a state, or d) we did research for an article or the books. This work was usually done with a team under the names New Networks Institute, (1992- ) Teletruth (2001-2013) an the IRREGULATORS (2014-)
Overview Report: The History, Financial Commitments and Outcomes of Fiber Optic Broadband Deployment in America: 1990-2004: The Wiring of Homes, Businesses, Schools, Libraries, Hospitals and Government Agencies
California
Kansas
FCC Chairman Pai Gets an “F” for Fake History of Broadband: Ever Hear of TeleKansas?
Massachusetts
Michigan
Investigate AT&T & Michigan Bell– And Go After the Billions Collected before Any New Government Subsidies.
Mississippi
- AT&T’s Track Record for Broadband in Mississippi: A String of Broken Promises.
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
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Tennessee: One State’s Creation of the Digital Divide by Now-AT&T-Tennessee (AKA —South Central Bell, BellSouth), Oct. 11, 2022
Wisconsin
Articles on 5G and Wireless
- Verizon Wireless’s 5G Deployment is a 1 Gig Fairy Tale …
- Jan 7, 2016 — Huffington Post: Verizon’s hype machine is in full force for the next generation, 5G. Note: 1 Gig (1 Gbps) …
- 2019: The 5G Bait-&-Switch Continues: History … – LinkedIn
- Mar 25, 2019 — Kushnick’s Law: “A regulated (or deregulated) company will always renege on promises to provide public benefits tomorrow in exchange for regulatory benefits and deregulation today
- The 5G Wireless “Pinprick” Charade Harms US All
- Jul 7, 2019·Phone Company Exec: “Stand right about here…”
- Verizon Claims 31 Cities with 5G: The Reality Is Verizon has “0” Cities has
- Jan 6, 2020·. Verizon 5G Deployment East Harlem map.
- FCC $9 Billion 5G Giveaway. |.
Aug 11, 2020 The FCC has decided that it should give $9 billion for the deployment of wireless 5G, but the FCC has never …
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Killed Off Competition
- Open Networks & Get the Money Back: Part of the Net Neutrality Solution.
- About 7,000 small ISP companies who were handling the majority of ISP customers in America, were killed off.
- SBA Rejects FCC’s Broadband Plan, New Networks Institute works with Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, 2002
- The Broadband Bill of Rights; proposed legislation working with Congressman Nadler, 2001
- Petition to the FCC to deal with harms to small ISPs, May 1st, 2003,
Statements by Executives and Regulators
- NEW REPORT: 15 Quotes: The Wireline-Wireless Bait-&-Switch Overcharged America and Caused the Digital Divide. Here is a collection of executive statements, excerpts from filings and comments by the FCC, the NY Attorney General’s office and the state PSC.
What the Bell executives tell the investors, but hides from the public.
- 5G: The Wireline-Wireless Bait & Switch: Because It Makes Them More Money. A full report detailing statements of executives pertaining to the deployment of Wireless – as a money maker and highlighting what the companies do not what they tell the public.
Bell Mergers and Outcomes
- The Mergers that Created AT&T & Verizon Were Failures. — Time to Break Up AT&T…Again.
- Bell Mergers and Outcomes, summary with quotes, published by Public Knowledge
Business Data Services and Accounting Overcharges
Consumer Federation of America (CFA) New Networks Institute (NNI)
- Consumer Federation Ex Parte Meeting with the FCC, September 2016
- Reply Comments Filed, August 2016
- Joint Comments Filed
- BUSINESS DATA SERVICE MARKET PLAGUED BY ILLEGAL COST ALLOCATIONS, OVERCHARGES AND EXCESS PROFITS
- Consumer Federation of America and New Networks Institute data show deeply anti-competitive, anti-consumer practices On June 28th, 2016 New Networks Institute and Consumer Federation Filed Joint Comments in the FCC’s Business Data Services Proceeding.
Joint Press Release: Consumer Federation of America and NNI
Decade of Examination: Verizon NY Reports & Filings, 2010-
New York is the only state that requires a full financial annual report. Starting in 2010, NNI’s team started to find some unsettling financial transactions and business practices, which we later uncovered was happening in every state.
- Verizon’s State-Based Financial Issues & Tax Losses: The Destruction of America’s Telecommunications Utilities
- In 2010, NNI started an investigation of the financial books of five Verizon’s state-based utility phone companies, including Verizon New York and Verizon New Jersey and the ties to Verizon Communications affiliate companies, (subsidiaries) including Verizon Wireless, Verizon Online, Verizon Services, among others. Published in 2012
- Verizon Wireless and the Other Verizon Affiliate Companies Are Harming Verizon New York’s (The State-based Utility) Customers & the State.
- In September 2013, our next report focused on Verizon New York and was the centerpiece of a filing by Common Cause, Consumer Union, CWA, and the Fire Island Association, which called for an investigation of Verizon’s financials and business practices, Alexander Goldman, Esq. co-authored the report.
- “It’s All Interconnected”,
- In May 2014, Public Utility Law Project, (PULP) published “It’s all Interconnected”, written by New Networks (with assistance by David Bergmann, Esq.) and it relied on unexamined data from Verizon New York using different Verizon supplied financials books.
- The Verge: Game of Phones: How Verizon is playing the FCC and its customers, May 2014
- The Connect New York Coalition, filed a Petition with the NY State Public Service Commission to do a formal investigation of Verizon New York. July 1, 2014. The Petition is based, in part, on NNI’s continuing research.
- Coalition members include AARP, Consumer Union, Common Cause, CWA, and NY state politicians.
- NNI & IRREGULATOR FILINGS, NYPSC: August 8th, 2017, we submitted 3 documents: Comment 1 has a short overview as well as a bibliography of our research, which is directly tied to this proceeding. It also gives a brief discussion of issues that have been overlooked or are missing and need to be part of the next steps the State should be implementing. Comment 2 is a more detailed view (that has been published in Huffington Post) of the current proceeding and a Verizon settlement. Comment 3 is a full report based on our analysis of the Verizon NY’s 2016 Annual Report.
- COMMENT 1: Overview and bibliography
- COMMENT 2: Huffington Post: Verizon NY in Multi-Billion Dollar Settlement Tangle, Underway in NY State, August 4th 2017
- COMMENT 3: Full Report: Verizon NY 2016 Annual Report: Follow the Money: Financial Analysis and Implications.
- Verizon New York 2017 Annual Report: An Analysis of Cross-Subsidies and Customer Overcharging
- DESCRIPTION: This report, based on the Annual Report, shows that there is a utility and that it is hemorrhaging money because of the FCC.
- Verizon NY Settlement Story, July 2018. The investigation concluded and Verizon NY settled the case. Estimated at $300-500 million dollars, the settlement called for an estimated 30,000 lines of fiber optics to be installed and the existing copper networks maintained.
Other New York Articles and Filings
- Dear Reimagine NY: Governor Cuomo’s Broadband Plan Is Broken. Let’s Fix It.
- Charter, (Spectrum) Altice (Optimum) and Verizon’s FiOS Cable TV Franchises Expired in NYC. Do Not Renew but Investigate — Finally.
- Letter to Mayor De Blasio: NYC Must Call for a Halt to the Billion+ Dollars of Cross-Subsidies and Overcharging by Verizon NY, the NY State Public Telecommunications Utility
- New York City Internet Master Plan Is Missing Key Components: IRREGULATORS v FCC
- Verizon’s NY City FiOS franchise has expired. Do not renew it until 100% has been upgraded to fiber optics. This letter was sent September 24th, 2020 requesting that the City hold Verizon accountable to finish NYC 100% with FiOS coverage, as stated in the agreement. In November, 2020, the City used the approach outlined in our letter.
FIXING TELECOM REPORTS: 2015-
How the FCC Accounting Formulas Overcharge America
- Report 1: Executive Summary: Verizon’s Manipulated Financial Accounting & the FCC’s Big “Freeze”
- Report 3: SPECIAL REPORT How Municipalities and the States can Fund Fiber Optic Wireline and Wireless Broadband Networks.
Proving the Cross Subsidies of Wireless by Wireline Utility and Customers
- REPORT 4: Data Report Verizon’s Wireline Networks Diverted Capex for Wireless Instead of Wiring Municipalities, and Charged Local Phone Customers.
The Manipulation of the FCC Accounting Rules, Expert Analysis
- Report 5: The Hartman Memorandum proves that the FCC’s own cost allocation rules created massive financial cross subsidies.
The History and Rules of Setting Rates in America
- Report 6: The History & Rules of Setting Phone Rates in America
- Report 7: SUMMARY REPORT: Verizon Massachusetts & Boston: Investigate the Wireless-Wireline Bait-n-Switch, January 17th, 2017
- Report 8: Verizon NY 2016 Annual Report Analyzed, June 2017.
The Digital Divide by Design The Formation of the Digital Divide by Design
- FILED WITH COMMENTS: REPORT 1: Did AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink & the FCC Intentionally Create the Digital Divide?
Overcharging: Manipulated Accounting: Cooked Books Nationwide
- FILED AS REPLY COMMENTS: REPORT 2: Verizon New York 2017 Annual Report: An Analysis of Cross-Subsidies and Customer Overcharging
- DESCRIPTION: This report, based on the Annual Report shows that there is a utility and that it is hemorrhaging money because of the FCC.