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 Bruce
Kushnick, Chairman of Teletruth, and Executive Director,
New Networks Institute (NNI), has been a respected telecommunications
analyst and visionary for over 20 years. During his career he
has predicted the growth of numerous interactive information markets
and services that have now become commonplace. For example, in
1985, while Senior Analyst for Link Resources (now part of IDC),
Kushnick predicted the explosive growth of 800 Services, voicemail
and interactive voice services (Only 2% of businesses had voicemail
in 1985, and now interactive voice is used for everything from
automated banking to order placement).
Other reports he wrote while president of Strategic Telemedia (and
sold through Jupiter Communications), predicted the rollout of Caller
ID (1988), the creation and growth of "700" and "900" number services
(1986) and even 900's stagnation (1990). He also created the 500
network, was one of the first to propose "511" and "311",
and coined such commonly used industry terms as "Intelligent 800",
"Telemedia", "Interactive Voice", and "500 Caller Paid".
Prior to 1992, he has advised clients including American Express,
AT&T, MCI, Sprint, The Weather Channel, NTT, Ogilvy & Mather,
Northern Telecom, British Telecom, Pacific Bell, and BellSouth on
strategic and tactical issues relating to implementation of enhanced
interactive communications.
In 1992, New Networks Institute, (NNI) was created to investigate,
on a totally independent impartial basis, how the break-up of AT&T
and the creation of Baby Bells had impacted subscribers and the
future of "new networks". Since that time the Institute
has completed the most comprehensive research project ever undertaken,
published, in part, by Probe Research and Phillip's Business Information
(now PBImedia.)
Some of Kushnick's predictions have been highly controversial,
such as his finding in 1992 that the Bells monopolies should be
broken-up. He called it "Divestiture II", and was called a "phonebill
fanatic" by the Washington Times. In 1993 he predicted that the
fiber-optic Information Highway was not going to be built. A Washington
Technology cover story in 1994 stated, "If telecom analyst Bruce
Kushnick is telling the truth (and we think he is) anyone involved
in building the forthcoming National Information Infrastructure
had better read his report word for word." In 1995, Kushnick's report
"Internot" predicted the Dot.Com crash.
In 1999, NNI's research has been encapsulated in the book "The
Unauthorized Bio of the Baby Bells & Info-Scandal", and
free on the web. http://www.newnetworks.com,
With over 10,000 downloads, (and counting), it has become a telecom
classic.
In 2002, Kushnick and other individuals, small businesses, analysts,
phonebill specialists and even phone and broadband customers formed
Teletruth, to defend the public's telecom and broadband interests.
Kushnick and his associates have help to establish class action
suits, filed complaints with the FCC and various public service
commissions, requested investigations by the IRS, worked with the
Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy to create a "Roundtable"
for small competitors, and has help to create of "The Broadband
Bill of Rights", a proposed piece of legislation.
In 2003, Teletruth was selected to be a member of the FCC Consumer
Advisory Committee.
Mr. Kushnick graduated from Brandeis University, and was a Special
Graduate Student at both Harvard and MIT. Bruce is an accomplished
composer and pianist and performed at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1990.
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