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FUNDRAISER:  TIME TO RATTLE THE TELCO CAGES

NEXT STEP: Halt the Wireless Cross-Subsidies; Use the Money to Upgrade America with Fiber Optics—Solving the Digital Divide.

IRREGULATORS v FCC: Freed the States from the FCC Rules!

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The current pandemic has exposed that America’s telecoms, Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink, failed to properly upgraded their state utilities to deliver high speed broadband. In fact, there is an estimated 163 million people that do not have very high-speed broadband, and this is not only in rural areas, but inner cities, with low income areas hit the hardest. From children who can’t go online to go to school, or communities that can’t participate because of this Digital Divide, this is  a social injustice.  America wants answers.

Every city and every state are looking for solutions about how to close this ‘have and have not’ situation — the Digital Divide, and fund the new infrastructure that needs to be built. Meanwhile, the FCC and others have a knee jerk reaction to fix this dilemma with Wifi or Wireless. But both require a fiber optic wire, and both are being subsidized; this is no solution.

Our new analysis, based on the current Verizon NY 2019 Annual Report  (published June 8th, 2020) estimates that the wired Local Service was overcharged an estimated $1.1-$1.6 billion, in just 2019. (This is the low number.). Nationwide, this equates to Local Service being overcharged in America an estimated $16-$23 billion in just 2019.

And this happened in every state, from AT&T California and Verizon Massachusetts, to CenturyLink Oregon and AT&T Kansas.

The Dark Secret: Billions of dollars have been charged to the state wired local services to pay for the construction of the wireless, 5G networks. Moreover, the FCC’s accounting has made the state telecom utilities that are controlled by AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink, unprofitable, so that billions in corporate operations expenses, from executive pay to lobbyists and lawyers, and even the corporate jets, were all dumped into the costs of the wired networks.

On March 13th, 2020, our challenge of the FCC, IRREGULATORS v FCC, was a win for the American public. The DC Court of Appeals made it clear that the states are now independent to devise a new set of accounting requirements and not use the FCC’s formulas.

(NOTE: IRREGULATORS counsel Scott McCullough, Esq., is now working as part of RFK JR’s challenge to the FCC’s 5G health analysis.)

Now the States can step in and redirect this money away from wireless, halt all of these added expenses  to bring fiber optic broadband to cities and states.

WE ALREADY STARTED:

But, the AT&T, Verizon et al. have also made sure that the FCC is captured and helping the companies and not the public

We also filed at the FCC and in NY State to start investigations.

  • On June 30th, 2020, the IRREGULATORS filed comments calling for investigations. Verizon also has ‘redacted’ (hid) some basic information and we are requesting this information is restored – and expanded on.
  • On August 5th, 2020 we also filed with the FCC in the $9 billion 5G plan, pointing out that the FCC never examined the wireless cross-subsidies.

IMMEDIATE:  Funding is now critical to take the legal and regulatory challenges and start this new major nationwide attack. 

Throughout the US there are thousands of groups that passionately care about the Digital Divide, as well as issues surrounding 5G. It is time to focus on a plan that goes after the cross-subsidies of wireless and moves the agenda to a wired, fiber optic solution, while convincing others that wireless is not the solution and to broaden our efforts.

This “Municipality and State Opportunity Plan” takes what we are doing in NY State (and City) and, with funding, will be modified for all other cities and states. Please help us expand these efforts with this new approach.

The IRREGULATORS is an independent consortium comprised of senior telecom experts, analysts, forensic auditors, and lawyers who are former senior staffers from the FCC, state advocate and Attorneys General Office experts and lawyers, as well as former telco consultants.

READ OUR FILINGS AND REPORTS

  • FREE BOOK: The Book of Broken Promises: $400 Billion Broadband Scandal & Free the Net