Proposed Bills Would Lead To Larger Phone Bills

CENTRAL OHIO—Consumer groups said proposed legislation would be bad for everyone with a landline.

NBC 4 reported with the FAST FACTS.

At least nine state agencies came out against Senate Bill 162 and House Bill 276 because they believe the proposals basically will deregulate the phone industry.

The bill would allow telephone companies to increase rates $1.25 per month every year, according to Janine Migden-Ostrander the head of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

That didn’t sound like a big increase, but it could be increased annually for three years. The next year would be $2.50 additional. The third year it would be $3.75 more. By the third year, someone with basic phone service has spent an additional $90 dollars.

“There are no benefits to the consumer” Migden-Ostrander said.

A diverse group of consumer advocates, together as Ohioans Protecting Telephone Consumers (OPTC), called for the defeat of the legislation Friday morning at the Statehouse.

The group said the bills would allow rate increases for basic telephone services, weaken consumer protections and lower telephone service quality standards.

The bills only would affect landline telephone services, but there are an estimated 4 million landlines in Ohio.

Proponents said the bills would attract jobs and stir economic development.

The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel said it also would allow telephone companies to take longer to fix outages with no penalties.

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