Friday, March 29, 2013 10:47 PM EDT

AARP fears landlines' end

Group sees bill signaling demise of traditional phone service
BY LAURESHA XHIHANI REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN A bill that aims to deregulate landline telephone service in the state has triggered fierce opposition from the country's largest seniors organization. AARP claims the bill will eventually lead to the deterioration of landline service for seniors, who need the service most. It has been buying advertisements and lobbying the state legislature in a campaign titled, "Don't Hang Up on CT Seniors." The legislation comes as AT&T has announced it will spend $14 billion over the next three years to expand and upgrade its networks, nationwide. The company is diverting some of the money it would have invested in traditional landlines to more modern technology, including wireless phone service. Just last week, AT&T announced it plans to eliminate 27 jobs related to landline service in the state. John Emra, AT&T's regional vice president for external and legislative affairs, called the proposed bill "regulatory reform lite." He says the bill is "a start to modernizing Connecticut's communications laws." The legislation, he explained, targets some regulations that have been unchanged since the 1940s, when AT&T was a virtual monopoly telephone-service provider. Today, AT&T and Verizon, which provides local telephone service in the Greenwich area, are the state's only landline providers and the only telecommunications companies regulated by the state even though, combined, they serve just 28 percent of the state's households, Emra said. "The monopoly is gone, but the regulations still exist," he said. The bill would do away with some tariffs and a yearly audit by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Emra said no other states require a yearly audit, and that the tariffs

pay to offset the cost of providing services few people use, such as Caller ID block, which hides a caller's name and phone number when calling a phone using Caller ID. With technology advances that have increased the use of wireless phone services, landline service the old-fashioned phone plugged into a telephone jack in the wall, has declined. AT&T officials say the company loses about 10,000 landline customers a month in Connecticut, and has 1.4 million fewer landline customers today than it did in 2000. Only about a third of homes in the state still use traditional landline phone service, according to AT&T, which refers to landlines as "POTS" plain old telephone service. Emra stressed, however, that even if the legislation passes, AT&T will still offer basic landline service. JOHN ERLINGHEUSER, advocacy director for AARP Connecticut, disputes that claim. He said AT&T is looking to stop service quality calls on landlines, and to eventually discontinue its landline service. "They want to extricate themselves from the responsibility of being the telephone company," Erlingheuser said. AARP is not against modernization, but is concerned that the bill eliminates regulatory oversight of landline service at a time when the transition to the more advanced digital phone service is still evolving, he said. The legislation would allow AT&T to eliminate landline service with just a 60-day notice and no regulatory proceeding, Erlingheuser said. He said basic landline service is just a phone with a dial tone and no other features, such as Caller ID or call waiting, which seniors rely on to protect themselves against telemarketers and fraud. Erlingheuser said not everyone can afford an alternative to landline service, and in many cases a landline is preferred over a cell phone, such as when people make an emergency call or need to use the phone during a power outage. Emra counters that AT&T's traditional landline service is the most expensive option for its customers, costing on average about $51 a month. In contrast, its U-verse voice service, which provides telephone service over the Internet, costs about $35 per month, while its new wireless home phone unit costs about $10 per month. He also noted that both the Internet service and cell phone towers have either battery backup power or emergency generators to keep the phones working during power outages.

The bill passed the legislature's Energy and Technology Committee last week. CoChairman Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said this is the third iteration of the bill, and with each version more was done to make sure the public is protected. State Rep. Sean Williams, R-Watertown, said he has received letters from AARP on behalf of members in his district. There is value in what the bill is trying to accomplish, including making the state more open to competition, he said. "I don't think AT&T can eliminate landlines for consumers," Williams said. At the Naugatuck Senior Center, members taking an art class said they prefer landline telephone service over cell phones or Internet service. When Judy Jaworski of Naugatuck lost power for five days during a storm last year, her landline telephone still worked. "If I couldn't use my phone, that would be terrible," Jaworski said. She uses a bundled package that includes telephone, Internet and cable service. She also has a cell phone, but says she uses it only rarely, preferring the landline. Judi Kontout of Watertown said people of her generation depend on their landline telephones. For her, the changes in technology are just too much to keep up with. "Things are moving too quickly to suit me," Kontout said. Business Editor Dave Krechevsky contributed to this report. Visit rep-am.com to comment on this story.