Toll Free Service Management System News

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC), the residential utility consumer advocate, opposes legislation passed by the Ohio Senate (Am. Sub. Senate Bill 162) and being considered by the Ohio House of Representatives (Am. House Bill 276) because both eliminate necessary consumer protections, allow telephone companies to raise rates for basic service without review and do not include any benefits for residential consumers.

Am. Sub. Senate Bill 162 and Am. House Bill 276

Filed under: Information | Tagged: Telephone Deregulation Bill | 1 Comment »

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A bill pushed by AT&T Inc. to complete deregulation of phone prices in Alabama is one step away from passing the Legislature.

The bill, which won Senate approval last week (story here), sailed through the House Government Operations Committee 8-1 Wednesday. The bill now goes to the House for a final vote that could come as early as next week.

Much of the traditional landline phone business in Alabama was deregulated by the Legislature in 2005 at the request of Alabama’s largest phone company, AT&T . This year’s bill would end the state Public Service Commission’s regulation of what’s left – basic landline phone services for residences and businesses with four phone lines or less.
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Filed under: Information | Tagged: Telephone Deregulation Bill | 1 Comment »

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma House has passed legislation to deregulate landline telephone rates in areas of the state where telephone service is competitive.

House members voted 86-12 for the measure Wednesday and sent it to the Senate for consideration.

The bill says fees for telephone service in areas where the Oklahoma Corporation Commission says the services are competitive will no longer be regulated by the commission.

The measure is opposed by various consumer groups, including AARP Oklahoma.

The organization says the bill would allow telephone companies to increase rates without full notification to customers, to charge any amount for deposits and charge whatever they want for inside wire maintenance plans.

The bill’s author, Rep. Ron Peters of Tulsa, says he is still working on the measure.

Source: http://www.okcfox.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.ok/3edb9101-www.okcfox.com.shtml

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A Kansas utility board overseeing telecommunications regulation in the state is embroiled in scandal after accusations surfaced that AT&T and the Kansas Corporation Commission, the state’s utility board, met secretly to negotiate a custom-written deregulation bill favoring the telephone company. Senate Bill 384 would deregulate rural telephone exchanges, increase telephone rates for low income families and seniors, allow AT&T to discontinue printing phone directories, and eliminate price caps on basic residential phone service.

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The Florida Senate’s General Government Appropriations Committee approved a version of a deregulation bill to get rid of state oversight of landline rates and customer service Monday in a 3-2 vote. Two Florida House panels have approved a similar bill.

Lawmakers have discussed deregulation initiatives over the past 15 years, but pressure is on to deregulate landline pricing, given the dramatic drop in inventory. A state report shows that the number of traditional land lines In Florida has dropped from around 12 million in 2001 to 9.7 million in December 2007.

Under the bills the state would continue to regulate rates and customer service for people who buy basic service. But anyone who bought additional features such as caller ID or call waiting would fall into a “nonbasic” category and would not be subject to the basic service regulations. Annual increases in the cost of basic service are limited to an amount less than 1 percent less than the basic rate.

Under the bills a top rate increase of 20 percent would drop to 10 percent, but that 10 percent increase would apply more broadly because more customers would fall into the non-basic category.

AT&T says competition and service bundling will keep rates down, but bill sponsors are trying to make the legislation more palatable by expanding the state’s Lifeline phone subsidy program for lower income residents.

Read more: http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/florida-legislature-moves-deregulation-forward/2009-04-21#ixzz0hvWdTojW

Filed under: Information | Tagged: Telephone Deregulation Bill | 1 Comment »