Florida Seeks to Deregulate Landline Services
Landline services in Florida would no longer come under the state Public Service Commission’s authority if S-1524 becomes law. The bill reflects technological changes and has gained wide industry support, supporters said. But Florida regulators worry that the measure could prevent the state from meeting federal obligations.
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The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. David Simmons, would strip the commission of authority to regulate prices and to arbitrate consumer complaints. It would maintain the PSC’s role in resolving disputes among companies and wholesale providers. As voice, video and data converged, providers began to offer bundled services, Michelle Robinson, Verizon Florida’s president, said in an interview, making updating regulations necessary. The bill has broad industry support, Robinson said. Verizon has lost half its Florida customers in recent years to unregulated companies, she said. The bill isn’t a dramatic step, a Verizon spokesman said. The state started deregulating in 1995. The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee recently approved the measure unanimously. The bill, which hasn’t passed either legislative house, must get through the House Appropriations and Senate Budget committees.
Opponents of the bill including the AARP, say landline services still need to be regulated to make them affordable. Many seniors still rely on landlines and service must remain reliable and affordable, said Bill Newton, executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network.
The bill also would simplify and update laws on the commission’s jurisdiction over certification and wholesale, carrier-to-carrier authority. Specifically, the authority to designate wireless ETCs in the state would default to the FCC. The lack of wireless ETC designation authority would impair the PSC’s ability to monitor the Lifeline program, said a report by the state commission. Other bill provisions would change the definition of VoIP by replacing a reference to the federal definition with a more detailed one. That may preclude the PSC from implementing and enforcing any federal obligations on VoIP providers that emerge from FCC’s VoIP proceeding, the report said.
The PSC acknowledged that it’s uncertain how the FCC’s USF revamp will affect the state’s telecom providers. The state commission has no express authority to create an intrastate USF. Some proposed changes may result in increases in customer charges like the subscriber line charge and may reduce carrier revenue from access charges and reciprocal compensation, the commission said. It said changes like this could increase rates to consumers and possibly reduce penetration rates in the state. A proposal in the FCC’s intercarrier compensation proceeding would encourage states to conform intrastate rates to interstate ones, the PSC report noted. Under current law, the Florida commission wouldn’t have authority to change or authorize changes to rates for network access services.
Deregulation supporters said current regulations may be costing the state huge amounts of investment that could be spent on broadband development. It’s encouraging to see state legislators taking steps toward removing burdensome regulations, said Christina Johnson, a senior adviser with Citizens for a Digital Future. Regulation is the most important state consideration affecting private investment in broadband, said Hance Hanney, a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute think tank.