AARP is Fighting to Cut Phone Rates
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2003-05-23 08:53:00-04:00
AARP is Fighting to Cut Phone Rates
Harvey Hollins, AARP Michigan Government Affairs Representative, has asked that AARP members write letters to their state senators in support of Senate Bill 1, which would give the Michigan Public Service Commission the power to finally end the $3.28 monthly line charge imposed by local telephone companies.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Gerald Van Woerkom, represents the latest stage in a battle led by AARP to kill the EUCL, or end user carrier-line charge. A law passed in 2000 attempted to end EUCL, but SBC and GTE Verizon, local telephone service providers, filed separate lawsuits claiming that the new law did not grant them the opportunity to argue in favor of the charge before an appropriate government body.
Gov. John Engler later settled the suit filed by SBC. His agreement resulted in immediate reduction of the EUCL by about 15 percent for SBC customers. The agreement did not affect the GTE Verizon suit.
Thus, the vast majority of Michigan's five million telephone subscribers still pay most of the EUCL. SBC and GTE Verizon charge the fee in Michigan, but not in other states. Legislative fiscal agencies estimate that the fee costs Michigan telephone subscribers about $150 million per year.
"We have fought for telecommunication reform in order to ensure high-quality service, more choices and lower rates for consumers," Hollins said. He urged that members either write, telephone, or email their state senators to support the bill.
"This bill will limit the ability of the state's largest telephone companies to charge this arbitrary and outrageous fee unless the Michigan Public Service Commission specifically approves it," Hollins said. He added that the bill would grant the telephone companies the due process they had sought in court, but that they would have to demonstrate its necessity. "We doubt that they can convince the MPSC that the fee is justified," Hollins said.
Find more information on the bill and locate your state senator.
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