Bill to End Rural Landlines Pulled Amid Strong Opposition

Source: Redheaded Blackbelt  |  By Sarah Reith

A bill that would have relieved telephone companies of their legal obligation to provide essential telecommunications services at affordable prices was pulled from a key committee on Monday, meaning it is not currently on its way to a vote by the full House.

Regina Costa is the telecommunications policy director for TURN, The Utility Reform Network, which fought vigorously against AT&T’s proposal. She is confident the successful effort to hold AT&T to its obligations as COLR was due in part to “the people of Mendocino County and Humboldt County, people who drove and waited for hours to give public testimony on the problems with AT&T’s proposals. What you guys did made a massive difference.” The fight for quality service in rural California isn’t over, though. One common complaint is that AT&T doesn’t maintain its network to a high standard. Regina Costa says the CPUC is now looking “very closely” at a report on service quality issues. “Part of that report discusses what AT&T admitted, which is that it doesn’t maintain its network because it doesn’t have staff,” she said. “Well, they made the decision to reduce their staff.” She says the commission is now considering if there is a way to force the utility to increase its personnel. “Most of the time, even when the lines are horrible, if they could still at least work, you’ve got something,” she observed.