Kleinhenz said the study supports Senate Bill 271, which would allow phone companies to discontinue basic landline phone service beginning in 2013 if the area is deemed “competitive” by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Phone company representatives said landline service won’t go away, but consumer advocates worry customers would be forced to choose a more expensive option.
At least 826 companies sell voice and data services to Ohio residences and businesses, according to the study.
Using data from a 2009 Ohio Telecom Association report, the study calculated that 119,500 Ohio residents live in ZIP codes with one to three competitors to the carrier responsible for building and maintaining landline service.
The study included wireless and voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) providers.
A 2007 Texas study found landlines in towns and cities there cost about $770 and generated a 10 percent return on investment while lines to areas outside of town averaged $1,590 per line and received a negative 7 percent return.
Kleinhenz said Ohio’s outdated law impedes the telecom industry from investing in broadband technology and discourages development in the state and a change would be for the “greater good” and move technology forward.
The bill’s opponents say Ohio isn’t ready to deregulate phone companies and many poor, rural and elderly Ohioans depend on basic landline service. About 1 million Ohio residents use only a landline connection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Customers could live in an area deemed competitive because one wireless company shows service there but have spotty service, said Marty Berkowitz, spokesman of the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.
Berkowitz said the bill should ensure consumers have access to comparable service at a comparable price before the company is allowed to pull out as a competitive service. Berkowitz said landline customers would pay about $20-30 more each month if they had to switch to a wireless or VOIP provider to get the same basic, unlimited voice service.
“We want to protect people from any opportunity to abuse this,” Berkowitz said. “Some only want a dial tone — that’s all they want and all they can afford. When you talk about the ‘greater good,’ that’s a lot of people.”
The bill passed the Senate in February, 30-3, nut has not been heard in the House of Representatives.
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