texan
Well-Known Member
How Political Corruption Is Responsible For 80% Of Your Cell Phone Bill
Last year, a new company called Lightsquared promised an innovative business model that would dramatically
lower cell phone costs and improve the quality of service, threatening the incumbent phone operators
like AT&T and Verizon.
Lightsquared used a new technology involving satellites and spectrum, and was a textbook example of how
markets can benefit the public through competition. The phone industry swung into motion, not by offering
better products and services, but by going to Washington to ensure that its new competitor could be killed
by its political friends. And sure enough, through three Congressmen that AT&T and Verizon had funded
(Fred Upton (R-MI), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Cliff Stearns (R-FL)), Congress began demanding an
investigation into this new company. Pretty soon, the Federal Communications Commission got into
the game, revoking a critical waiver that had allowed it to proceed with its business plan.
And so Americans continue to have a small number of expensive, poor quality cell phone providers.
And how much does this cost you? Take your phone bill, and cut it by 80%. That’s how much you
should be paying. You see, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, people in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland pay on average less than
$130 a year for cell phone service. Americans pay $635.85 a year.
Why does the FCC and why does Congress want us to have high cell phone costs?
Well, they don’t, not really. It’s more accurate to say they don’t particularly care about
our problems, but are responding to an entirely different problem that is completely
unrelated to cell phones.
The government is responding to the need for campaign contributions for politicians.
In other words, we are stuck with big bad cell phone companies not because those companies
are good at providing cell phone service (which anyone with a dropped cell phone call knows), but
because they are good at corrupting markets through political donations.
AT&T has the single biggest donor group (known as a “Political Action Committee”) in Washington, DC.
How Political Corruption Is Responsible For 80% Of Your Cell Phone Bill - govtslaves.info | govtslaves.info
Last year, a new company called Lightsquared promised an innovative business model that would dramatically
lower cell phone costs and improve the quality of service, threatening the incumbent phone operators
like AT&T and Verizon.
Lightsquared used a new technology involving satellites and spectrum, and was a textbook example of how
markets can benefit the public through competition. The phone industry swung into motion, not by offering
better products and services, but by going to Washington to ensure that its new competitor could be killed
by its political friends. And sure enough, through three Congressmen that AT&T and Verizon had funded
(Fred Upton (R-MI), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Cliff Stearns (R-FL)), Congress began demanding an
investigation into this new company. Pretty soon, the Federal Communications Commission got into
the game, revoking a critical waiver that had allowed it to proceed with its business plan.
And so Americans continue to have a small number of expensive, poor quality cell phone providers.
And how much does this cost you? Take your phone bill, and cut it by 80%. That’s how much you
should be paying. You see, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, people in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland pay on average less than
$130 a year for cell phone service. Americans pay $635.85 a year.
Why does the FCC and why does Congress want us to have high cell phone costs?
Well, they don’t, not really. It’s more accurate to say they don’t particularly care about
our problems, but are responding to an entirely different problem that is completely
unrelated to cell phones.
The government is responding to the need for campaign contributions for politicians.
In other words, we are stuck with big bad cell phone companies not because those companies
are good at providing cell phone service (which anyone with a dropped cell phone call knows), but
because they are good at corrupting markets through political donations.
AT&T has the single biggest donor group (known as a “Political Action Committee”) in Washington, DC.
How Political Corruption Is Responsible For 80% Of Your Cell Phone Bill - govtslaves.info | govtslaves.info
