Corporate Welfare for the Telcos

Editor,

AT&T, Comcast, and the handful of other giant telcos are ripping the American public off blind for bandwidth that is 10 times less expensive in Japan or France.

Americans pay $25 a month for 1.2 Megabits. French and Japanese consumers pay $30 a month for 28 megabits.

It's the same old corporate welfare story that pervades all of American capitalism. Essential resources like radio frequencies, oil patches, telecommunications licenses are handed to the corporations for free, and they charge American consumers through the nose for them.

Ask Ralph Nader how the U.S. government should protect consumers from the telcos, then watch what their pals in Congress do about it.

re: "Internet Money in Fiscal Plan: Wise or Waste?" (2/3/2009)