|
Governor Signs Legislation Allowing Traditional Phone Companies to Reduce or Eliminate Certain Fees
Governor George E. Pataki has announced that he has signed legislation that will benefit consumers by allowing telephone corporations to reduce or eliminate fees on nonbasic services.
"The emergence of new telecommunications technologies has led to a greater range of options for consumers, and they will truly benefit if all providers are able to offer services at competitive rates," Governor Pataki said. "By allowing traditional telephone corporations to offer price incentives to consumers for non-basic services such as caller I.D. and callwaiting, we will create a more competitive marketplace and provide additional choices and benefits to consumers."
Senator James Wright, chairman of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee and sponsor of the legislation, said, "Consumers of traditional telephone companies
who utilize services such as caller I.D., call waiting and voice mail can benefit from lower rates thanks to the Governor's approval of this new law. By allowing telephone companies the flexibility to offer free or reduced promotional rates for optional services, there will be increased competition among the various telecommunication providers which will ultimately result in lower bills for consumers."
Under the State Public Service Law, traditional telephone companies may only offer free or reduced basic services for limited amounts of time, subject to approval by the Public Service Commission (PSC). These companies had been prohibited from offering free or reduced non-basic services.
Certain non-traditional telecommunications carriers, including those which provide cable or wireless services and Voice Over Internet Protocol,
are not subject to State regulations or PSC oversight. As a result, these companies have been able to offer pricing incentives on all their services to induce customers. Since traditional carriers could not offer such incentives, they have been at a competitive disadvantage. By allowing the traditional providers to now offer promotional incentives for non-basic services, consumers will have additional opportunities for cost-savings in a more competitive telecommunications environment.
This legislation will benefit telephone customers by making it easier for telephone companies to lower prices for services such as call waiting and call forwarding. The law eliminates out-of-date regulations that required state approval before phone companies could lower prices for services to new or existing customers.
| 
