Commenters Urge CPUC to Reject COLR Rule Changes Proposed by AT&T and Cal Advocates
Source: Communications Daily |By Philip Athey
Independent consumer advocacy organizations called on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to reject a proposal that would allow telecom providers in the state to relinquish their carrier of last resort (COLR) status in exchange for fiber expansion in areas where broadband is already largely available.
The Utility Reform Network (TURN) called the joint proposal “a giant step backward for consumers” that would “widen the digital divide,” even with the “small number” of fiber deployments that it includes. In comments filed Friday, TURN also pointed out a number of disagreements that Cal Advocates and AT&T seem to have even within their proposal, including whether the “relief areas” should be geographically contiguous, whether there should be extra enforcement mechanisms beyond what's in the proposal, and whether California Lifeline participation should be perpetual or limited to just five years.
