Stories by Bruce Kushnick

Bruce Kushnick is a telecommunications industry analyst who serves as the broadband and telecommunications expert for Harvard Nieman’s Foundation for Journalism’s Watchdog, and a founding member of Teletruth, a customer advocacy group.  He can be reached at bruce@newnetworks.com. subscribe to Bruce Kushnick's feed

Why Our Phones and Internet Are Being Threatened by a Big Telecom Privatization Scheme

Posted on: Jul 26, 2012, Source: AlteNet

Consumers stand to lose big-time if the FCC and its corporate friends get their way.

Telecom Rip-Off: The Hidden Fees in Your Wireless and Phone Bills

Posted on: Feb 12, 2012, Source: AlterNet

The telecom industry is squeezing more money out of customers without delivering any new or improved service.

OccupyTelecom, Occupy the FCC: How the Communications Trust is Harming America’s Future

Posted on: Nov 17, 2011, Source: AlterNet

The telecom trust’s use of the FCC to raise your rates is a direct example of how corporate greed impacts each of us.

The Telecom Scam: 5 Behemoths That Strangle Innovation and Ensure You Pay Too Much for Bad Service

Posted on: Nov 11, 2011, Source: AlterNet

America’s communications system is in crisis, hijacked by a handful of giant companies coddled by the agencies that are supposed to regulate them.

The Smart Phone Con Job: Your So-Called 4G Phone Isn't What It's Cracked Up To Be

Posted on: Jun 29, 2011, Source: AlterNet

4G wireless is supposed to be cutting-edge, super-fast technology better than most home broadband. But mobile companies mostly aren't delivering on the promise.

Shills R Us: Organizations That Get AT&T Cash Endorse its Mega-Merger with T-Mobile

Posted on: Jun 21, 2011, Source: AlterNet

A growing number of nonprofits are recipients of AT&T grants; are they violating their IRS nonprofit status by shilling for the company's interests?

The Secret $8 Billion Wireless Scam: How AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Game the System

Posted on: Jun 16, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Telecom giants Verizon and AT&T have gamed the system, using regulations designed to foster competition to snatch up ever more of the wireless spectrum.

As AT&T and T-Mobile Edge Closer to Merger, What's In It For Customers? Very Little

Posted on: Jun 9, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Telecom companies are rigging the game to make bigger profits on mostly-unregulated wireless, even as giant mergers eliminate most competition.

It's Time to Break Up AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner and the Rest of the Telecoms

Posted on: May 11, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Today's telecoms provide overpriced and inferior service, and are systematically overcharging the hapless American consumer.

How Politicians Are Using 911 Emergency Services to Scam Millions of Consumers

Posted on: Mar 17, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Raiding 911 funds is an easy way for politicians to scoop up loose cash -- far easier than taxing the rich.

The Outrageous Ways Your Phone Company May Be Stealing from You

Posted on: Feb 9, 2011, Source: AlterNet

A growing number of scams are being perpetrated on telephone and Internet customers. Think you can easily identify bogus charges on your bill? Good luck.

How AT&T, Verizon and the Telecom Giants Have Captured the Regulator Supposed to Control Them

Posted on: Jan 7, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Our telecom industry's overseer doesn't seem to have any control to stop the greed. That's because it's a puppet of the industry giants.

How Comcast and Huge Telecom Players' Latest Gambit Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It

Posted on: Dec 21, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The telecom wars are heating up and the American Internet user is the proverbial pig on the spit.

Phone Companies' $100 Billion Rip-off -- Where Is That Hidden $6 a Month Going in Our Phone Bills?

Posted on: Dec 10, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The phone companies are soaking all of us for a good chunk of money every month, and they're allowed to conceal it in the fine print of your monthly bill.

Cable Companies' $46+ Billion Robbery -- Subscribers Have Been Ripped off for $5 a Month Since 2000

Posted on: Nov 7, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The cable companies are diverting money that is intended to improve infrastructure, creating a perpetual cash machine for greedy execs.

How the Phone Companies Are Screwing America: The $320 Billion Broadband Rip-Off

Posted on: Oct 6, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Americans are stuck with an inferior and overpriced communications system, compared with the rest of the world, and we're being ripped off in the process.