In this Jan. 11, 2011 file photo, Tim Cook, Chief Operating Officer of Apple, announces that Verizon Wireless will carry Apple's iPhone, in New York.
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"What's Good for Verizon and AT&T Is Terrible for American Consumers"

Op-Ed, WIRED

July 26, 2012

Author: Susan P. Crawford, Former Faculty Affiliate, Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project, January–December 2012

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: The Cyber Project; Science, Technology, and Public Policy

"This summer, the very big wireless carriers in America, Verizon (106 million subscribers) and AT&T (99 million), are poised to get even bigger. As they move towards squashing cheap data substitutes for expensive voice minutes, consider charging application providers to reach subscribers, layer on fees for additional devices, and collect overage charges for data usage, they will bulk up on customers and revenue. This is good for them, but not good for the rest of us.

Continued growth for the nation’s largest wireless carriers hinges on offering access to data. That is the commodity they are selling. The problem, however, is that there are very few sources for this commodity, even though it is an essential ingredient of 21st century life...."

Continue reading: http://www.wired.com/business/2012/07/whats-good-for-verizon-and-att-is-terrible-for-american-consumers/

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Full text of this publication is available at:
http://www.wired.com/business/2012/07/whats-good-for-verizon-and-att-is-terrible
-for-american-consumers/

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