A surefire way to break the ice with someone is to commiserate over your sky-high prices for internet, phone, or TV. Americans are finding that the costs of these services are too much to manage. As AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Verizon continue to dominate the telecommunications industry, prices for their services have been inflated by about 25% above what competitive markets should deliver.
Yesterday, Public Knowledge, joined by Common Cause and United Church of Christ OC, Inc., filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking the agency to deny the proposed merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. If approved, the purchase of Tribune Media’s 42 stations would enable Sinclair to reach 72 percent of U.S. households.
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed several pieces of legislation focused on improving next-generation wireless networks and broadband infrastructure deployment, ensuring that rural areas have reliable voice services and protecting consumers from spoofing.
Public Knowledge President and CEO Gene Kimmelman partnered with Consumer Federation of America Research Director Mark Cooper and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth to publish “A Communications Oligopoly on Steroids: Why antitrust enforcement and regulatory oversight in digital communications matter." Here are the key takeaways.