Big telecommunications companies — Comcast, Verizon and others — are “not in the business of making sure that everybody has reasonably priced Internet access,” says Susan Crawford, author of “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age.”
Crawford, a former special assistant to President Obama for science, technology and innovation, explains in this video interview that “Comcast and Time Warner on the wired side” and “Verizon and AT&T on the wireless side” have boxed out the competitors when it comes to providing fast, affordable Internet, with far-reaching problems:
- 19 million Americans have zero access to high-speed Internet
- One-third of Americans don’t purchase a high-speed connection because it’s too expensive
Comcast, one of the companies Crawford names, is in year two of its Internet Essentials program in Maryland, whereby certain families qualify for broadband access at $9.95 per month. Nonetheless, Crawford argues that the Internet should be treated more like a utility to ensure reliable, affordable access for all Americans.
Watch Susan Crawford’s interview:
Susan Crawford on Why U.S. Internet Access is Slow, Costly, and Unfair from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
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