w0go.O join:2001-08-30 Springfield, OR 4 edits
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w0g
Member
2014-Dec-23 7:34 pm
verizon customersThis is about consumer regulation and protection. It is Verizon customers connecting to Netflix, Verizon customers pay Verizon for access to Netflix service.
Verizon takes customers money, and doesnt use it to ensure Verizon customers service works for access to Netflix and other internet services.
Verizon demands that Netflix pay for them to fix their network.
Verizon profits, 97% or more for each internet customer they sign up, as internet costs less than $1.23 per household to operate. Yet they charge $70+ a month.
Please tell me why anyone gives a fuck about Verizon, and why they aren't forced to maintain and upgrade their network as a common carrier? Why isn't any of the money Verizon customers pay, going to maintain their chunk of the pie? Who is taking all of Verizon customers money, and not using it to run the service customers pay for?
I know if telephone didn't work to call certain people or places, that would be seen as Verizon's fault. And it would be a reason to complain about them selling a service that didn't even work, or blocked access to services and communications illegally. Let's say I need to call 911, but Verizon only had two lines of service to 911 with millions of customers ensuring the lines were always tied up, when other companies typically had 1000 lines and less customers ensuring slightly more reliable access (Verizon, the monopoly on service that it is, of course, didn't allow competition to it's subs, so people were stuck). Why would it not be Verizon's job to fix that, or should Verizon customers do without reliable 911 service? Keep in mind, the 97% profit margins, so they were clearly paid to offer the service, and had plenty of money to offer the service properly and had the money to do upgrades necessary to maintain it.
If you catch my drift, you begin to see that, Verizon is collecting money, and using it inappropriately, such as to pay investors and CEOs with priority, preferring to do that rather than build their systems or invest even a dime into network upgrades. And this is wrong, because this money is meant to fund a service for the public, not to make leaching investors rich out of money that doesn't belong to them.
What the FCC has in their powerful hands, is the ability to regulate any company providing such critical infrastructure or utility to ensure customers get a working performing product, and that more of the money goes into customers service, ensuring the publics access to the utility. FCC is able to regulate this, by setting rules to ensure quality of access, and service level, which has the impact of mandation of upgrades and deployment of certain technologies. This will take part of Verizon's profits because they are forced to a higher standard, which is precisely what rich Verizon investors are trying to fight here, but the public will benefit from it if it is done properly.
Similarly, the FCC has the ability to boost corporate profits, by regulating them in such a way that quality of service is not ensured, that money is not invested, and which utility is not provided to any standard or level. This is the current model, enacted by greedy corporate republican tards who had control over the FCC during important periods, setting these standards over the last decade or so under Bush's direction. |