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Dear Haruna,
Your cable and wireless companies are getting into bed together. And
while it might be a cozy arrangement for them, it's bad news for the
rest of us.
Verizon has struck a deal with a cartel of cable companies —
including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications — to stop
competing against one another. They want to divvy up the spoils of the
growing mobile market for themselves so they can continue gouging
consumers without the threat of competition.1
Whether you use a mobile phone or a desktop computer to access the
Internet, this deal will hurt you. Verizon is already the largest
wireless provider in a consolidated market. If there's no competition to
keep carriers in check, prices will continue to spiral upwards and
services will decline.
The Senate Antitrust Committee is holding a hearing on
Verizon's shenanigans on Wednesday. I will be there testifying before
Congress on your behalf. But I need you to show your opposition to this
deal:
If this deal goes through, the cable giants will hand Verizon a giant
chunk of the public airwaves, allowing the company to grow even bigger
while its wireless competitors wither away. In return, Verizon will
promise not to eat into the cable cartel's broadband business.
If this deal is approved, the United States will fall even farther
behind the rest of the world in broadband adoption, speed and
affordability. Sky-high wireless and broadband bills will rise even
higher, even if you're not a Verizon or cable-cartel customer. And even
fewer people will be able to afford Internet access.
These companies aren't talking about trading sports players back and
forth. The product they're trading is our very ability to access
information and engage in our democracy.
Do you want Verizon to have this kind of power? Speak up now and tell Congress to block Verizon's deal with big cable.
The future of the Internet is too important to be left to a handful
of giant companies. I will go before the Senate on Wednesday to help
make sure Washington hears from you. Please take action to show Congress we mean business.
Thanks,
Joel Kelsey
Free Press Action Fund
Free Press Action Fund
P.S. Like our work? The Free Press Action Fund is powered by
donations from people like you. We don't take a single cent from
business, government or political parties. Please keep us going strong with a gift of $10 — or more — today. Thank you!
1. "Verizon to Buy Cox Spectrum to Remake Its Broadband Model," GigaOm, Dec. 16, 2011: http://act2.freepress.net/go/8979?akid=3390.9892567.n4M0lQ&t=14
