Immediate Threat:
The New “Digital Dead Zones” & Removing Your Rights to Communicate: Deny the AT&T FCC Petition NOW.
It’s a simple question: Which future do you want? If you chose New Networks,
AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink, who are corporate sponsors of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), have declared WAR on the American public. They have created a new plan to establish new digital “dead zones” and remove a consumer’s rights to communicate. (Of course they don’t claim that will happen.)
AT&T has filed a petition to start this process, while AT&T et al with ALEC have been going state-to-state to remove all regulations – and laws have been changed in 23 states – and counting. New Networks filed to have the FCC not only deny AT&T’s requests to start investigations.
Here’s what’s going to happen:
- You live in a small town and one day you wake up and your phone service no longer works – Tough.
- You’re a small business and you’re fax machine or DSL goes dead – Too bad.
- You want to get upgraded to broadband that can handle video? – Sorry.
- You live in a city and they tell you they’re not fixing your line – Go away.
- You want to watch a movie or TV show on a mobile device like a tablet, you’ll get hit new charges called “bandwidth caps” i.e., you went over your limit or your paying through the nose; that’s because the companies who offer wireless services also own the wire lines that connect the cell towers as well.
- Your bill keeps going up because there’s no competition or hidden fees in the form of taxes, fees and surcharges are mysteriously added – Shucks.
- Your right to complain to a public official is being removed as well “regulatory” oversight.
- And cable? There’s no competition from the phone companies so prices continue to rise, and this leaves the cable companies free to not offer a la carte packages, or choice of a competitor’s set-top box with cool new features and they, too, put on bandwidth caps to stop outside video services. – And it will get worse.
But it gets worse: The telecom companies are tightening their grip, eroding your rights:
- Verizon sued the FCC to end Net Neutrality, thus enabling it to block, degrade or inspect a customer’s calls or data.
- The Supreme Court approved AT&T’s policy of prohibiting customers from pursuing class action suits a wireless company; it is now attempting to do this with other services.
If you still want what the phone companies and ALEC are offering – good luck with that. For everyone else who wants a future of jobs, economic growth and oh yes – companies that actually want to compete for your services and want America to have broadband, internet for everyone – at reasonable rates —
Read More: Backgrounder, details of the petition, and more about ALEC.
File at the FCC to Deny AT&T’s Petition