Archives: Phones & Cell Phones

Consumer and public interest groups in New York State recently submitted a letter asking state legislators to sign on to a bill which would require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to suspend its proceedings to restructure the local telephone service.  The bill requires the PSC to the report potential impact of its “deregulatory” initiative on affordable telephone service, the reliability of E-911 services, the achievement of universal service, and the status of consumer protections for residential telephone service customers.

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March 7, 2006

Dear Legislator:

We are writing to ask you to co-sponsor A. 9807/S. 6787, a bill which would require the Public Service Commission to suspend its proceedings to restructure the local telephone service currently afforded to New Yorkers.  In addition, this bill mandates the PSC to report to the Legislature on the potential impact of its “deregulatory” initiative on affordable telephone service, the reliability of E-911 services, the achievement of universal service, and the status of consumer protections for residential telephone service customers.  The prime sponsor of A. 9807 is Assemblymember Richard Brodsky, Chair of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions, and the prime sponsor of S. 6787 is Senator Thomas P. Morahan.

Universal access to affordable quality telephone service and consumer protection have been longstanding regulatory objectives of New York State.  Yet over the past decade, incidental to its initiative to bring "deregulation" to residential telephone service in New York, the Public Service Commission has eliminated rules and regulations that protect consumers from arbitrary treatment and rampant price increases, compromised its response to the degradation of telephone service, and failed to reverse the trend towards reduced availability of service for hundreds of thousands of residential telephone customers. 

Now, under its announced design for a "COMP III plan," the PSC plans to:

• raise the price of basic phone service;
• through “pricing flexibility”, allow major price increases for New York consumers without any determination by the Commission that such increases are necessary to support continued service or are otherwise in the public interest;
• further weaken service quality requirements by reducing the scope of the Commission’s work to monitor phone company performance against established service quality standards; 
• eliminate consumer protections based on an unsubstantiated faith that competitive service providers will render such protections unnecessary; and
• leave broadband entirely unregulated and New York consumers with no assurance that affordable broadband services will be available when needed by rural and low income communities. 

The PSC argues that the free for all "competitive" marketplace that it envisions in "COMP III" – rather than the more structured marketplace that we have built, maintained and relied upon in New York for decades – will produce affordable prices and high quality service.   We strongly disagree.  We believe the PSC’s continued pursuit of its "COMP III" vision, untempered by a comprehensive analysis of the results of this vision thus far and the anticipated results in the future, will render high quality phone service more expensive and less accessible, and will assure that needed broadband services are less available to low-income and rural communities. 

We need your support to ensure that in the fast evolving telecommunications marketplace, all telecommunications providers in New York are held accountable for the provision of high quality affordable phone service to all New Yorkers.  With your support, the PSC can be directed to pause in its current program and to conduct the needed analytical work to assure all New Yorkers that the PSC’s implementation of its statutory responsibilities will not erode important consumer protections or hurt New York’s most vulnerable households and communities.  

We are seeking to win passage of this bill at the earliest opportunity. 

Please also take the time to write William Flynn, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, to tell him you are concerned that their proceedings will hurt New York consumers.  We’ve attached a sample letter for your convenience. 

Thank you for your consideration of these requests.  We look forward to working with you in the near future to pass A. 9807 in the New York State Assembly and S. 6787 in the New York State Senate.

Sincerely,

Lois Aronstein, AARP 

Chuck Bell, Consumers Union 

Richard Kirsch, Citizen Action 

Pat Boone, NY ACORN 

Ben Wiles, PULP

Ed Donnelly, New York State AFL-CIO 

Mike Burgess, New York State Alliance for Retired Americans 

Chris Shelton, Communications Workers of America, District 1