As this site has noted on numerous occasions, AT&T and Verizon continue going state-to-state whining about how unfair the rules and regulations governing landline networks are towards business. According to the telecom companies, we can fix this issue by simply dismantling government rules governing POTS and DSL -- in order to create a surge in "innovation" and "investment."
In reality, the telecom companies simply want to walk away from DSL and copper customers so that they can focus solely on higher-growth wireless customers. The companies also want the public to forget that they have enjoyed billions of dollars in taxpayer money in the form of subsidies and tax breaks to poorly install and maintain these landlines. AT&T’s investment in fixed line networks has been dropping like a stone for years so the notion that they care about investing in these fixed line networks is a farce.
Now, a proposal in Minnesota is getting public attention after the State Attorney General, Lori Swanson, publicly slammed the telecom-written proposal as terrible for consumers since it would “eviscerate 100 years of state law protecting consumers, including a requirement that phone companies provide access in far-flung rural areas.”
"We're very concerned that they'll just drop people who are too expensive to serve," Swanson said. "And we're very concerned that if they don't drop you, they'll say, 'Great, it will be $250 a month.'"
Not to worry though as Minnesota Telecom Alliance President Brent Christensen wants everyone to know that this isn’t “deregulations” but instead is “re-regulation” since this rule change would only be a “really small step.” How small? Well, as the Attorney General noted, it would include more than “90 percent of phone companies in the state.”
Former Minnesota Attorney Generals are even coming out in favor of scrapping this proposal since, as they note, it only hurts the elderly and poor while helping just the telecom companies.
In California, their telephone market was deregulated in 2006 with the promise of lower prices, increased competition and expanded new services.
How did that work out? Landline service prices have soared more than 260% over six years for many AT&T customers. In fact, there have been double- and triple-digit rate hikes for nearly all phone services, from call waiting to call forwarding, even though those services are automated and cost phone companies almost nothing.