'Special Excess': The Secret Broadband, Internet, Cable, Wireless and Phone Networks

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[Commentary] Forget about the National Security Agency and the phone networks. There's another secret network you should know about. I call it "special excess," though it's known in the telecom industry as "special access."

You won't hear about these secret wires. For example, when AT&T and Verizon tell us they are losing lines, the special access wires are not part of the accounting, even though they represent the majority of access lines in America. Or when you hear that local service is losing money, the secret is that much of the revenues from these "special" networks are not being added to that calculation and are hidden from sight. Some analysts estimate that they are overcharging the competitors and businesses that use these networks by more than $12 billion annually. Or worse, this network has obscene profit margins of over 100 percent last time there was any data available, which was 2007. And yet there's nothing special about special access lines. They are just more wires and services that are part of the network.

[Kushnick is Executive Director of the New Networks Institute]


'Special Excess': The Secret Broadband, Internet, Cable, Wireless and Phone Networks