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Southern telecom deregulation marches on
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Landline deregulation throughout the south is moving forward, with bills moving forward in Alabama and Tennessee.
The Tennessee Senate was scheduled to vote Monday on a bill to deregulate the price of basic landline phone service; a separate bill awaits another hearing in the House. Under the bills AT&T could charge whatever it wanted in major metro areas; currently, the rate set by state regulators is $13.50 per month. The legislation would exempt rural areas from deregulation.
AT&T says it is losing about 20,000 landline customers per month in Tennessee, as both residences and business move to alternative services, such as cell phones and competitive phone offerings.
The Alabama Senate passed a bill last week that would end regulation of basic landline service by the Public Service Commission starting in 2011. The bill is now going to the Alabama House for debate.
AT&T also has deregulation efforts going on in bills this year in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
For more:
- The Tennessean has a nice article.
- Last week, deregulation efforts moved forward in Alabama. Article.
Related stories
Verizon fights VoIP regulation in Oregon - FierceVoIP
Phone companies move deregulation forward in Florida - FierceTelecom
Alabama Senate committee moves forward on state phone deregulation
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | June 5, 2009 - 6:05am
In one County in N.E. Alabama 40000 ATT customers have switched to cable net.
As soon as Cable one offers the bundle plan they plan on offering, they are going to lose a lot more.
ATT has gotten so that they bill people whatever they choose, they charge for everything including a $5 per month fee for calling in your payment. late fees of $6.59, and the list goes on.
Their customer service representatives are paid a commission on sales of ATT services and will quote prices of these services that are sometimes 50% lower than the actual charge to get the commission for the sales, once the charges are listed on your bill it will take months to get it removed.
I could write a book about what they have tried to do to me, like giving a credit on one months bill and then charging you for it on the next, keeping you so confused that you don't know what your bill will be from month to month.
They refuse to give you a written quote of what they are going to charge
Posted by Anonymous | April 13, 2009 - 9:11pm
OH YOU WILL SEE WHAT THIS DOES TO EMPLOYMENT WITH AT&T IN YOUR TOWN! I PROMISE YOU THAT. OUR STATE ALREADY DEREGULATED AND WE ARE LOSING A TON OF LANDLINES STILL. THE COMPANY ONLY WANTS UVERSE CUSTOMERS! TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!
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