AT&T Urges Calif. Lawmakers to Pass COLR Relief
AT&T called on California lawmakers Tuesday to grant it and other carriers relief from carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations. A state bill, AB-470, is "only focused on COLR relief in those well-served areas or areas with no population," said Terri Nikole Baca, AT&T vice president of legislative affairs, during a California Senate, Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee hearing. The "idea of a COLR obligation is outdated," she argued. Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) urged the committee to maintain its nearly 30-year-old rules.
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The committee ultimately voted 3-1 in favor of the bill and kept it open, with four members not voting. The legislation would amend the state's COLR rules by establishing a process where the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) "must relieve" a carrier of its COLR obligations in "well-served" areas.
The current COLR framework "does not reflect today's reality," Baca said. As a result, she said, COLR providers are "directing investments away from the services that meet customers' needs and into a network that less than 5 percent of people use." Baca also cited the CPUC's rulemaking to update the rules.
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D) questioned why the legislature should "circumvent" the CPUC and how to guarantee communities will continue to be served. "Given the huge policy considerations in front of you, there's a lot of public benefit to the lawmaking body to have some direction in this process," Baca said. "The reason these rules don't really apply in today's reality is because of the advent of competition," she added.
The committee also heard public comments from dozens of small-business owners who favor the proposed bill. A coalition of a dozen counties and public interest organizations opposed the measure, authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D). "Without COLR obligations, telephone companies can pick and choose which neighborhoods they serve with copper, VoIP or fiber," said TURN Executive Director Mark Toney. COLR obligations are "key to guaranteed service," said Frank Arce, CWA's District 9 vice president.
"To say that there are well-served areas that would be left behind without a COLR obligation is complex" because there's no interest in removing infrastructure from the market, Baca said. Even if a well-served area were to become an underserved or unserved area after a carrier's COLR relief is granted, Baca noted that the law would put AT&T "on the hook" to serve that area for 10 years.
Baca also cited the problem of copper theft as another reason to grant COLR relief (see 2506050034). As a result, repairing AT&T's copper networks is "taking a longer time than it is for a modern network," she said. It's "important to make a plan" for affected customers.
Also Tuesday, committee members voted 9-0 to approve a bill making changes to the CPUC's membership structure. AB-13, by Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D), would require that four members represent the four State Board of Equalization districts and one member be at-large with "expertise in nongovernmental public advocacy or public interest law."