Source: LAist | By Nereida Moreno

Regina Costa, Telecommunications Policy Director for the advocacy organization, TURN, provided the following comments on our May 10 radio interview.

-I expect the CPUC to approve the proposal to dismiss AT&T's application. AT&T could not show that there are other carriers who will serve everyone and tried to argue that was irrelevant. That doesn't jive with the law or the CPUC rules and is rightfully being rejected.

-We would not be surprised if AT&T goes to the legislature. AT&T is trying to pitch this as an application to promote broadband. It is the opposite. It is a proposal that would allow them to pick and choose who to serve, leaving entire communities and many neighborhoods that they deem undesirable out in the cold. I sent her the April 24 Earnings Call, and the quote from the AT&T Director, CEO, and President.

-The Administrative Law Judge rightly pointed out that nothing is stopping AT&T from deploying its advanced network right now.

-Californians turned out in droves to the public participation hearings, in person and after waiting hours on the phone. They overwhelmingly said that AT&T is wrong, that there are no alternatives in much of AT&T's territory, and the Commission should reject the proposal.

-The new CPUC proceeding will be very, very important, because it is about universal service - how to ensure that every Californian can receive essential communications services, without discrimination. Discrimination isn't just price discrimination, it is what services are available. And what is meant by basic service. And should it incorporate reliability requirements.

Source: Redheaded Blackbelt | By Sarah Reith

“ ‘AT&T is touting this application as pro broadband,’ [Regina Costa] remarked … But as the judge pointed out, nothing in the application actually does that. There is a lot of could, and would.’…”

AT&T will likely have to continue as the carrier of last resort in California, relieving some anxiety about the future of landlines in rural parts of the state.…

Source: Point Reyes Light | By Ben Stocking

““What AT&T really wants is to stop providing essential telecom service to 99 percent of its service area, without providing a shred of evidence that there are real alternatives,” said Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network, an Oakland-based consumer group. .”

A judge has issued a stinging opinion recommending that the California Public Utilities Commission reject AT&T’s request to end landline service in California—a move that would leave thousands of West Marin customers without reliable service.

Source: USA Today | By Betty Lin-Fisher

While the rejection is a proposal and still needs to be approved by the commission, Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California, said she fully expects the board to approve it. “What AT&T really wants is to stop providing essential telecom service to 99% of its service area, without providing a shred of evidence that there are real alternatives. This includes many areas threatened by wildfires, earthquakes, floods and power shutoffs," Costa said in a press release. "If AT&T gets its wish, it would significantly jeopardize public safety." In an interview with USA TODAY, Costa, who is also chair of the telecommunications committee for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, said California's proposed rejection of the landline waiver is on top of a recent rejection in Utah for another utility to waive its obligation to provide landlines. "I think it's very important for consumers nationwide,'' Costa said. "I think that would give other states the impetus to look at the same thing."

California utility regulators are proposing rejecting a request by AT&T to eliminate its responsibility to provide traditional landline phone service. That could have implications nationwide, a consumer advocate said. Fewer telephone companies are offering basic landline phone service as the utilities say the copper-wire infrastructure is old and expensive to maintain, and the demand for landline phone service is low as consumers move to mobile and other services.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Julie Johnson

“Customers have hit the breaking point and have passed it,” said Matthew Freedman, an attorney for ratepayer advocate group The Utility Reform Network, which supports the fixed charge plan. “People who live in the Central Valley have taken it on the chin as rates have gone up.” “You have to start somewhere,” Freedman said. “Doing nothing is a bad choice.”

California regulators are set to vote Thursday on a major change to utility bills that could raise costs for some residents already burned with soaring rates, while lowering costs for others. The California Public Utilities Commission will decide whether to approve a $24.15 fixed charge on utility bills in exchange for lowering the per-unit price of electricity. The rule would apply to customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison.

Source: The Press Democrat | By Marisa Endicott

“A woman described how essential her internet service has been in facilitating medical appointments for her mother in hospice care. ‘I strongly encourage policies that support a modern and robust network for everything in California,’ she said. ‘I don’t want the CPUC to stand in the way of progress.”

The backlash from California communities and officials has been swift and steady as state regulators consider whether to release AT&T from…

Source: CBS News | By Ruth Dusseault

According to Regina Costa with The Utility Reform Network, a nonprofit watchdog group that advocates for affordable power and phone service, the two designation requests are linked in a slight-of-hand to get out from regulations. If AT&T is released as the COLR, then it is no longer obligated to provide basic service. "There's the catch," said Costa, "They are saying they will provide California LifeLine, but only where it has an obligation. At the same time, they are asking for a release of the obligation as carrier of last resort. So, it's really a lot of smoke and mirrors." Costa says that AT&T is allowed to offer LifeLine using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is a digital service that can be transmitted on either copper or fiber optic wires, but she says the company chooses not to do that. "So, it is being pitched as if they are getting rid of these old, antiquated lines," Costa said. AT&T also co-owns most of the utility poles with PG&E, said Costa. "So, if you want to use the pole, you have to negotiate with AT&T."

On Tuesday, over 200 phone comments were heard by the California Public Utilities Commission over their consideration to release AT&T from its obligation to serve as the state's carrier of last resort. The carrier of last resort designation, or COLR, is a cornerstone of utility regulation. It obligates a carrier to serve all customers within their territory no matter where they live, even in places with spotty cellphone service.

Source: RedHeaded Blackbelt | By Sarah Reith

But many people testified that AT&T is not maintaining its infrastructure. And Regina Costa, telecom policy director for TURN, The Utility Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy organization, disputed the idea of robust competition for reliable phone service. “These guys had the advantage because they had a monopoly for many, many decades,” she said in an interview before the hearing.” And they had customer support for many decades. There was a point in time where they allowed competition for local service, but very few of those companies survived.”

The Board of Supervisors chambers, the overflow room, and the courtyard at the Mendocino County government campus were packed yesterday for a highly interactive public participation hearing about two proposals from AT&T. The California Public Utilities Commission is evaluating the company’s request to relinquish its status as an eligible telecommunications carrier and to be released from its obligation to continue as the carrier of last resort, or COLR.

Source: National Public Radio: Marketplace Tech | By Lily Jamali & Rosie Hughes

Regina Costa, telecom policy director at the Utility Reform Network, an advocacy group, told Marketplace’s Lily Jamali that having a “carrier of last resort” matters. Regina Costa: It means it can’t pick and choose that it will provide service to some customers and not others. It means the service is supposed to be reliable. It means they decide they’re going to put money into this neighborhood, but not that neighborhood. It’s based on the notion that it is absolutely imperative for society that everyone in our nation has the ability to get essential communication service, for your family, for communicating with your job, for communicating with your school, for communicating with social service agencies and other governments, and especially in times of emergencies.

Before cellphones, a twisted pair of copper wires that linked our homes to the local phone company kept us all connected. Today, in much of California, telecom giant AT&T is still required to provide that basic landline phone service to anyone who wants it. Now though, AT&T is asking regulators to be relieved of that obligation. “No customer will be left without voice or 911 service,” the company says. Californians weighing in, by and large, are skeptical.

Source: USA Today | By Betty Lin-Fisher

If California allows the waiver for AT&T, it becomes a slippery slope for other states, said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network (TURN) in California and chair of the telecommunications committee for the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. “I think the nation is watching California very closely,” said Costa. “Is there a replacement that will guarantee service to all customers and guarantee reliable service?” That service needs to be available to all customers at a reasonable cost, said Costa. “Customers really get squeezed with service offerings and price increases” for alternatives, she said.

The California Public Utilities Commission is considering an application by AT&T to waive its responsibilities to be what’s called “Carrier of Last Resort,” meaning the utility has to offer the copper-wire landline service. The utility said in filings with the commission that the technology for the traditional landlines is old and demand is low. The utility and many of its peers have been petitioning state utility commissions and state legislators, asking to be relieved of the task of maintaining and offering the traditional landline service.

Source: Cal Matters | By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

“Honestly, how much longer do folks have to wait?” asked Ashley Salas, an attorney with the consumer group, The Utility Reform Network (TURN). “How much longer are folks going to be harmed?” Advocates say they were not aware of any changes the utilities commission made to their application process, and regardless of the changes, residents without legal status haven’t been able to access the program. “It’s not making a meaningful difference for folks to be able to access the program,” Salas said.

It’s been 10 years since California decided to let low-income undocumented immigrants qualify for state subsidies of phone and internet services. Today the California LifeLine program — which helps 1.2 million low income households get free or discounted services — still excludes hundreds of thousands of undocumented residents because they don’t have Social Security numbers.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle | By Annie Vainshtein

“What AT&T is seeking is really, really profound,” said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for The Utility Reform Network. “By removing that obligation, that means there is no one that can guarantee service for a customer.”

An effort by AT&T to pull out of its obligations to offer landline services across a huge swath of California — including most of the Bay Area — has raised impassioned safety concerns among residents worried about what might happen if they lose access to their traditional wired phone lines, especially in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency. As the designated “carrier of last resort” in California, the telecommunications giant has long been required to provide basic phone services to people who want them, as required by state law. Such services are cheap, ubiquitous and heavily regulated.

Source: The Mercury News | By Ethan Baron

“The consequences are life threatening,” said Regina Costa, telecommunications policy director for consumer group The Utility Reform Network. Hundreds of thousands of households in the Bay Area and millions around California would lose landline service if the commission approves AT&T’s proposal, Costa estimated. AT&T declined to say how many households in the Bay Area or California would be affected.

Thanks to its earlier monopoly status and state law requiring voice communications for all who want them, AT&T is for large areas of California the “carrier of last resort” — the utility required to provide phone service to anyone wanting it in its service area. In its proposal to the utilities commission to escape that obligation, the company said it is seeking to stop landline service only in areas “where there is a demonstrated voice alternative.” Nearly all those commenting said they opposed the plan, citing a host of concerns, from medical crises to loss of communications during earthquakes, fires, floods and storms because cell phone infrastructure is damaged or power outages cut off internet service.

Source: KMUD News | By Lisa Music

Regina Costa, the Telecommunications Policy Director for TURN, stated, “Universal telephone service is really essential for society. Being the Carrier of Last Resort means that everybody that AT&T serve[s], is entitled to have a service that will work, that you can use to communicate with your family, your friends, your job, your kids’ school, and people in Humboldt County know this very well.” The petition submitted by AT&T would relieve them of a century-old obligation to the residents within their designated territories, leaving those within their service areas without guaranteed reliable communication access, leaving AT&T free to put profit over service, Costa said. “[T]hey could stop [service] within six months, and they could do things like picking and choosing …a part of town they think is more lucrative [to] put new facilities in and start offering their more advanced services in those areas. [T]hey could focus on the more affluent neighborhoods. They can even deny people service by running credit checks.”

Throughout California, telecom companies are obligated to provide Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to all areas, ensuring connectivity even in remote or underserved regions. The petition by AT&T seeks to remove their obligation to their designated COLR areas, allowing the telecom company to discontinue copper-line phone service in their service areas if other voice service options are available. However, advocacy groups like The Utility Reform Network (TURN), Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), and the Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission (Cal Advocates), to name a few, are opposing the applications.

Source: Bakersfield | By John Cox

The CPUC Office of Ratepayer Advocates did not respond to requests for comment. But Regina Costa, the telecommunications policy director at The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco-based organization that advocates on consumers' behalf, expressed skepticism with AT&T's proposal. Costa noted the VoIP service that some customers would be expected to switch to comes with vulnerabilities that landlines don't, such as susceptibility to potential cyberattacks. Rural areas could be "profoundly impacted" by AT&T's proposal, she added.

Consumers' reliance on landline phone service in places such as rural and urban parts of Kern County is being weighed against AT&T Inc.'s drive to refocus on more modern technology in a case pending before the California Public Utilities Commission. The Dallas-based telecommunications giant is asking the CPUC for permission to stop offering landline service in census-designated places where at least half local residents have cellphone coverage or other alternatives.

Source: Point Reyes Light | By Ben Stocking

“For over 100 years, the state, the C.P.U.C. and the federal government have promoted the idea that communities need reliable communication,” said Regina Costa of The Utility Reform Network, an Oakland-based consumer group. “AT&T is saying, ‘We don’t want to do that anymore, so goodbye, good luck and good riddance.’” Yet Ms. Costa said the upgraded broadband networks have yet to be installed in many rural regions—and they can’t be relied upon during power outages. “With your basic copper phone, it will work in a power outage, and you can guarantee it,” she said. The Utility Reform Network is one of several consumer groups that have urged the C.P.U.C. to reject AT&T’s application. Harriet Barlow, a Point Reyes Station resident who relies on a landline, hopes their challenge succeeds.

AT&T wants to stop providing traditional landline service in California, a move that could leave many customers in rural areas like West Marin with limited communications options—or perhaps none at all—during emergencies. AT&T’s request has outraged consumer advocates, who say that telephone companies should not be allowed to back out of their obligation to provide universal telecommunications service.

Source: KRCR | By Tyler Van Dyke

On Tuesday, we spoke with the Utility Reform Network (TURN) who is against the proposal to get their side of things and figure out more details on the proposal and the next steps. Telecommunications Policy Director Regina Costa explained to us the complicated process it will be.Costa explained that TURN believes that even if AT&T is denied they will then try to make it a law. "We think that their application they haven't been able to support it and we really think that their goal is to take this to the legislature to try and convince them to just put a bill through regardless of what the commission does, so you know this is kind of the preliminary round." Costa also said one of AT&T’s main arguments is that a lot of people don't use landlines these days, “One of their arguments is not as many people are using landlines but the other side of the coin is you’ve got over a million Californians using landlines,” Costa continued, “you have a situation where they have actively tried to drive people away from using landlines by not maintaining their network and then when people call in to complain it will take you a long time to fix it but if you want to switch over to this service you’ll get it right away, this is the game that they have been playing for a few years now, they’re obligated to maintain those lines and they haven’t done it.”

AT&T sent customers a letter informing them that they may no longer provide landline services in certain service areas throughout California. The letter states AT&T submitted an application to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that, if approved, would remove AT&T’s obligation under California law to provide traditional landline phone service in a large portion of our service territory in California. This leaves customers in rural areas, with spotty service as it is, concerned.