<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Bruce Kushnick</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bruce@newnetworks.com">bruce@newnetworks.com</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 12:04 PM<br>Subject: Fast Lane, Slow Lane -- "No Lane" -- End Game in Telecommunications<br>To: <br><br><br>
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<big>(Excerpted from the new book: <b><a href="http://newnetworks.com/bookofbrokenpromises.htm" target="_blank">The Book of Broken Promises: $400 Billion
Broadband Scandal and Free the Net</a></b><b>) </b></big>
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Fast Lane, Slow Lane -- "No Lane" -- End Game in
Telecommunications</b></big><br>
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/fast-lane-slow-lane--no-l_b_5865996.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/fast-lane-slow-lane--no-l_b_5865996.html</a><br>
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<p>Forget about Net Neutrality's fast lane vs slow lane.
We are at the end game in telecommunications and we
should all be talking about the "No Lane".<br>
<br>
Net Neutrality is like one of those Rorschach Tests used
in psychological examinations where everyone sees
something different in the same picture. With a <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/16/6257887/fcc-net-neutrality-3-7-million-comments-made" target="_blank">record 3.7 million comments filed at
the FCC in the Open Internet proceeding,</a> as of
September 15th, 2014, one thing is clear -- America is
angst-ridden about something.</p>
<p>The most common theme in the last round of comments
filed is now the-easy-to-remember chant -- "fast lane vs
slow lane", while over the last decade it has referred
to the blocking or degrading of service. </p>
<p>But the truth is -- the angst is not only from 'Net
Neutrality'. According to an <a href="http://bgr.com/2014/05/20/comcast-twc-customer-satisfaction-survey-study/" target="_blank">ACSI survey, </a> in 2014, Comcast
and Time Warner are leading the list as the "most hated
companies in America", while "ISPs", (actually the phone
and cable companies, including AT&T and Centurylink)
were also at the bottom of customer satisfaction. <br>
<br>
While Net Neutrality focuses on important issues, it
doesn't address or cure anything to do with stopping the
"No Lane"-- the end game if AT&T, Verizon, Comcast
and Time Warner continue on their path. These companies
are the incumbent wireline and cable companies that
control most of the wires in the US and that also means
that they control all wireless services. Control of the
wires also gives them control over all services,
including competitor services, but more importantly it
gives them the ability to control who gets upgraded and
who doesn't, or what prices customers' pay, or worse,
who will be 'shut off' and end up in a 'Digital Dead
Zone'.</p>
<p>How bad is the broadband 'landscape'? </p>
<p>A recent speech by <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2014/db0904/DOC-329161A1.pdf" target="_blank">FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler </a>brings
the "No Lane", filed with the "have nots", into focus.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"At the low end of throughput, 4 Mbps and 10 Mbps,
the majority of Americans have a choice of only two
providers. That is what economists call a "duopoly", a
market place that is typically characterized by less
than vibrant competition."</p>
<p>"At 25 Mbps, there is simply no competitive choice
for most Americans. Stop and let that sink
in...Three-quarters of American homes have no
competitive choice for the essential infrastructure
for 21st century economics and democracy. Included in
that is almost 20 percent who have no service at all!"
"Things only get worse as you move to 50 Mbps where 82
percent of consumers lack a choice."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ironically, (as we <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394.html" target="_blank">mentioned in our previous article</a>),
America's customers have been charged about $400 billion
dollars to have the entire US upgraded to fiber optic
services by 2010, or there abouts, with speeds of at
least 45 Mbps in both directions -- and that was the
speed of broadband in <a href="tel:1992" value="+661992" target="_blank">1992</a>; by 2014, we should have been
a 'gigabit nation'.</p>
<p>Wheeler, unfortunately, appears to be in denial about
the other pressing issues -- And it is going to get
worse.</p>
<p><strong>The "No Lane": Shutting off the Copper -- and
Force-Migrating to Wireless.</strong></p>
<p>At an investor meeting, a <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/2162303-verizon-communications-management-discusses-q1-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript" target="_blank">CITI Investment Research</a> analyst
asked Fran Shammo, Verizon's CFO, about "the homes where
you don't have FiOS. I think it's... maybe roughly 8
million homes...".</p>
<p>Fran Shammo <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/2162303-verizon-communications-management-discusses-q1-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript" target="_blank">responded</a>: 'VoiceLink' and
'harvesting' are the plan.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"Outside of the FiOS footprint obviously, really we
are taking two measures there. One is the Wireless
portfolio and replacing some of that that old voice
legacy copper voice with our LTE voice product that
Wireless has been selling across the nation for almost
two years now called Home Phone Connect. Within
Wireline, they have a very similar product called
VoiceLink which in essence is the same thing.</p>
<p>"So we will try to replace that copper legacy with
those technologies. But look, I mean, outside, this is
kind of where you say it's you have to nurture it and
harvest what you have and we know that we are not
going to be able to compete with speed in that
environment and we will continue to do the best we
can."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Harvesting customers is essentially getting as much
profits out of a customer as possible by raising rates
until the customer screams uncle and leaves, or stays
but is being gouged. But the primary goal is to shut off
the copper, so make as much as possible until then.
Meanwhile, VoiceLink <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/fire-island-erupts-over-v_b_3531584.html" target="_blank">caused a revolt on Fire Island</a>,
New York. After the Sandy Storm, Verizon's plan was to
not fix the copper utility networks in various parts of
New York and New Jersey and force customers onto a
2G-styled wireless service called VoiceLink. Fire Island
residents attacked this plan and in 2014 they were wired
with fiber optics; Mantoloking New Jersey wasn't as
fortunate or vocal and is still forced onto VoiceLink. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, AT&T has an identical plan, but they
call it the "IP Transition". This chart, supplied by
AT&T to the FCC, is the current and after picture
about its plans for the Carbon Hill Alabama Internet
Protocol (IP) transition trials, which is supposed to
migrate customers from the current networks to
Internet-based networks. </p>
<center style="width:490px;margin:0px auto">
<p><a href="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2014-09-23-attcarbonhill.png" target="_blank"><img alt="2014-09-23-attcarbonhill.png" src="cid:part10.01060805.03040104@newnetworks.com" height="149" width="300"></a></p>
</center>
<p> <br>
In this rather jaw-dropping chart we see that AT&T
will shut off 60% of working wired services to be
replaced with their own wireless service, while 4% can't
get anything upgraded so far. And their wireless product
includes a VoiceLink-like service. (I note that as of
the filing, VoiceLink couldn't do data applications or
Internet service.)</p>
<p>How exactly does shutting off the working phone lines
(and not upgrading the customers), or worse, replacing
the line with an inferior and expensive wireless service
constitute a "transition" to IP protocols exactly? </p>
<p><strong>Net Neutrality's Broadband Utility Push and the
Disconnect.<br>
</strong></p>
<p><small><small><font size="+2"><small><small><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">To read
the Rest: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/fast-lane-slow-lane--no-l_b_5865996.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-kushnick/fast-lane-slow-lane--no-l_b_5865996.html</a></font></small></small></font></small></small></p>
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Bruce Kushnick, Executive Director<br>
New Networks Institute<br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div>Check out the Commons Transition Plan here at: <a href="http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan" target="_blank">http://en.wiki.floksociety.org/w/Research_Plan</a> </div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br><br><a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank"></a>Updates: <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br><br>#82 on the (En)Rich list: <a href="http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/" target="_blank">http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/</a> <br></div>
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