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Rural phones a deregulation issueMONTGOMERY, Mar 03, 2009 (The Decatur Daily - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Three years after the state deregulated most traditional telephone services, a bill making its way through the Senate could complete the process. AT&T, the primary provider of landline telephone service, is backing a bill, SB 373, that would remove traditional telephone service from Alabama Public Service Commission oversight. Lobbyists and the bill's sponsor, Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, say competition would control the price and quality of traditional phone service. Rural areas Opponents, however, fear the opposite might happen, especially in rural areas, if the state removes landline phone service from the PSC's jurisdiction. The next stop for the bill is consideration by the full Senate, which could come as early as Thursday. The bill likely faces amendments there. Morgan County Commissioner Greg Abercrombie said his own telephone situation is an example of why reliable, reasonably priced landline service is essential. Smitherman and AT&T say Abercrombie and other rural residents would continue to have good telephone service they can afford. Abercrombie said he is worried. With only one landline pro-vider in his area, he fears the company will have no reason to keep its rates low. Abercrombie has interest in family-owned Abercrombie Dairy Farm in the eastern part of Morgan County and also lives on the property. His said his home and family business depend on landline telephone service in the mountainous, rural area. The landline automatically notifies him if electricity goes out in the dairy, Abercrombie said. It also provides rapid access to 911 in an emergency, while mobile telephone signals are spotty and may go to the wrong location for quickest help. Abercrombie uses the location of his district office as an example. "I'm sitting here in my county office with three telephones: my office landline, my county-provided link cell phone and my personal cell phone," Abercrombie said. "The only one that works in this location is my landline. I can go outside and sometimes get a signal on my personal cell phone. I can drive three or four miles down the road, and I might get a signal with the county link cell phone. That's kind of aggravating." Most reliable He said for terrain near his office and home, traditional telephones that plug into a jack in the wall provide the best way to communicate. Fred McCallum, president of AT&T Alabama, contends that rates would remain competitive and that rates for service to rural areas, which is more expensive to deliver, would not go up. Stephen Stetson, a policy analyst for Alabama Arise, said about 20 percent of Alabama telephone customers still purchase "no-frills, stripped down telephone service." The customers tend to be elderly and those with little money for extras, he said. All three members of the state Public Service Commission oppose further deregulation of telephone service. Commissioner Susan Parker said she is concerned that rates will rise in areas without competition, such as the area where Abercrombie lives. Protection "The purpose of the PSC is to provide regulation in areas where there is a monopoly," Parker said. "In some remote areas where there is no digital cable service and no reliable cellular service, people do not have other options like they do in metropolitan areas." The Alabama Farmers Federation wants to amend Smit-herman's bill. Paul Pinyan, governmental affairs director for ALFA, said the organization wants language added to require that rates in rural areas will not be higher than in metropolitan areas. Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, voted for the bill in committee in the Senate last week. But Butler said he expects the bill to be amended. Even if the bill passes the Senate, it also must pass the House. To see more of The Decatur Daily, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.decaturdaily.com Copyright (c) 2009, The Decatur Daily, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |