Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
dismissed AT&T California’s application A2303003, that
requested to terminate their obligations as a Carrier of Last
Resort (COLR) and no longer provide basic telephone services.
This was welcomed news, as
CSAC and many counties were opposed.
During the meeting, the CPUC committed to protecting customers’
access to basic telephone service – no matter where they live,
their income, or access to other forms of communication. The full
text of the final decision, Decision Dismissing Application
(D.24-06-024) can be viewed
here.
Also, the CPUC announced the start of a new rulemaking process to
consider revisions to their COLR rules. Here is a link to the
Draft Rulemaking.
Lastly, the work continues, as CSAC is in strong opposition to
AB 2797, a horseracing bill that was gut and amended on
June 10th by Assemblymember McKinnor, that now says
telephone corporations seeking relief from COLR obligations will
no longer need to fulfill those obligations if they submit a
notice to the California Public Utilities Commission and make
specific changes to their tariffs. AB 2797 will be heard in the
Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee on July
2nd.
For more information, please see previous CSAC posts related to
these matters:
