TURN Telecommunications Accomplishments

A livable state is one where every single person has access to essential services, including a telephone. While some in wealthy, urban areas may see POTS (plain old telephone service) as a thing of the past, it is still a vital connection to friends, family and services for many low-income and rural Californians. TURN is working to keep it viable.

Low income and rural customers are not the only ones at risk. With phone deregulation leaving corporate greed unchecked, prices are going up for everyone and the phone companies are cutting back on services and customer rights. TURN holds corporations accountable, demanding reasonable rates and real options for customers, and opposing attempts to limit their rights and choices.

TURN helps to bring the voices of ordinary Californians to the debates impacting decisions about California’s phone service. Our outreach materials and website offer consumer-friendly information on complex policy issues, and valuable tips for consumers who want to save money—or get more involved. Thanks to TURN, public participation at the CPUC dramatically increased this year, raising consumer voices to a whole new level.

Standing Up For Rural Communities

TURN won changes to a well-meaning consumer-funded program that had become a slush fund for AT&T and the other big phone companies. The program was established to promote universal service by providing funding to support affordable basic phone service in remote, high-cost rural areas.

Thanks to TURN, support levels and eligibility guidelines were updated, which meant a more effective program with lower costs for consumers and better access for the consumers who need it most.  TURN stood up for rural consumers, bringing our battle for affordable basic service statewide to the Legislature.  It took TURN two years to pass SB 780 (Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa), which assures the continuation of current basic service standards in rural areas.

In addition, SB 780 requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to conduct a study of phone affordability.  TURN has been demanding an affordability study from the CPUC for some time, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears.  Thanks to the Legislature, the CPUC will have to collect information on the price and costs of basic service, and on the accessibility and utilization of phone service by income, ethnicity, age and other factors.

Payphones Where Needed

Payphones continue to play a vital role in meeting universal service goals and providing access to emergency services for some parts of our state. TURN recently convinced the CPUC to implement a public policy payphone program for 50 phones in high-cost areas that helps defray the expenses of vital pay phones. The phones selected will include phones that:

• enhance public health and safety;
• are in rural or remote areas with significant public traffic;
• are on an interstate or a state highway rest stop;
• are in a community with limited landline telephone availability;
• are in areas with some other demonstrated need for a public payphone.

Everyone wants to be able to find a working phone in a reasonable distance if they are stuck on the road with no cell service, or in some other emergency situation, and this program makes it much more likely they’ll be able to.

A LifeLine for Low Income Californians

The California LifeLine program is supposed to help low-income Californians afford basic phone service.  But changes to the program in 2007 resulted in many eligible consumers being kicked off the program unfairly. TURN has worked with a coalition of consumer groups to advise the CPUC on how to best fix the problem, and several of TURN’s proposals, including short-term education outreach and more reasonable application deadlines, have been adopted.  Thanks to TURN’s efforts, more eligible, low-income Californians will be able to participate in the program.

Launched Universal Phone Service Campaign

Under leadership of TURN’s new organizing director, Ana Montes, a campaign was launched to increase Lifeline participation of low–income residents, preserve affordable rates for basic phone service, and develop strategies to expand broadband access for low–income communities.

The campaign commissioned a survey showing that customers value basic phone service that includes essential features such as a flat rate for unlimited local calling, emergency access to local 911 dispatch centers, privacy rights to an unlisted number without fees, and information retrieval through the yellow and white pages.

In July the campaign organized a Town Hall on Basic Phone Service in San Francisco and subsequently brought 60 people to speak out on phone issues at the July CPUC Public Meeting.  Community leaders statewide attended our CBO Summit to Save Lifeline the following fall and have continued to work with TURN to improve access and affordability for their communities.

Consumer Protections Restored

Special rules designed to protect consumers from abusive marketing practices by AT&T were put in danger by deregulation. AT&T eliminated the protections, claiming that under deregulation they were no longer required to comply with the rules.  The CPUC was willing to allow AT&T to ignore its original order, but TURN was not.  TURN’s attorneys convinced the CPUC that AT&T had acted prematurely, and the Commission ordered some of the key protections restored.

Demanding Rights Despite Deregulation

In the deregulated phone market, TURN has had to fight for safeguards that are the norm in other industries, where disclosures of prices and terms are the rule, rather than the exception. In this atmosphere, TURN’s victories in getting limited disclosures in place, including requirements that prices be posted on line and a 30-day notice for rate changes for all services will mean consumers are not left completely in the dark.

Telecommunication legislation supported by TURN will help to empower and protect phone consumers, softening the blow of the CPUC’s deregulation of the phone industry. Assembly Bill 2885 (De La Torre, D-South Gate) will allow CPUC enforcement of existing laws protecting consumers of pre-paid phone cards, and AB 2136 (Mendoza, D-Norwalk) expands requirements for truth-in-advertising for pre-paid phone cards.  Senate Bill 1149 (Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa) will expand the telecommunications grant program for rural areas, and SB 1193 (Padilla, D-San Fernando Valley) will attempt to expand high-speed Internet to underserved areas.

AT&T Retreats in the Face of Consumer Protests

In late August AT&T sent all its California customers—about 90% of the state—a new “service agreement,” that protected AT&T from liability for “slamming” and “cramming,” gave AT&T the right to change billing cycles and rates without notice, eliminated a customer’s right to file a lawsuit and buried the few remaining consumer rights in a 2,500 page online guidebook. Customers were given a deadline by which they had to either agree to the new terms or find a new phone company.

Outraged consumers contacted TURN for help in fighting back. TURN complemented our legal filings with a vigorous outreach campaign that included drawing media attention to the issue, mobilizing customers to testify at CPUC meetings, regular online action alerts, and collecting over 1,700 signatures on an a petition that was delivered to the CPUC. The Commission was forced to act, and issued a ruling suspending the “agreement” for revision. AT&T then backed down even further, and the “agreement” has been put on ice for the foreseeable future.