Republican bill threatens traditional PA phone service [View all]

[Number9Dream]

Snip> "Phone companies could be freed of PUC oversight in urban and suburban areas, and in rural areas with at least two alternative voice service providers. As a result, the phone companies could:
• Raise rates without PUC oversight.
• Replace land lines with wireless technology.
• Abandon land lines altogether after 2018 where the cost of maintaining them is high."

Snip> "I cannot find a single thing in this bill that benefits consumers," said PUC Commissioner James Cawley, who has taken an unusually vocal stand.

Snip> "Of particular concern to the AARP is the impact on seniors, who are far more likely than younger people to rely on the traditional land lines — of either the older copper or newer fiber optic variety — connected to their homes."

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-telephone-deregulation-bill-20131116,0,7163106.story?page=2