An eight-month-old crackdown on abusive practices in the wireless telephone industry was suspended January 27 by the California Public Utilities Commission. The PUC first enacted the tough new regulations last May.
Room for the suspension came when PUC members Loretta Lynch and Carl Wood – who played key roles in bringing about the so-called Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights – left the PUC when their terms expired.
But, according to published reports, PUC member Susan Kennedy led a drive to suspend the crackdown on grounds that the regulations laid too heavy a burden on a business now deemed critical to California's economy, and she got support from incumbent Michael Peevey and newly appointed member Dian Grueneich.
The regulations in question included clearer explanations of rates, taxes, and fees; listing all contract terms in 10-point type or higher; and, more help for non-English speaking customers.
The regulations were said to have been spurred by "rampant" consumer complaints from false advertising to confusing billing practices. "I fear what we are going to start to hear," said The Utility Reform Network executive director Robert Finkelstein, after the regulations were suspended, "is that what's good for business is necessarily good for consumers, and we know that's just not so."
He wasn't alone in objecting to the suspension, as other consumer groups, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and all 58 California district attorneys, also objected. The Das reportedly said broad consumer complaints about wireless telephony are distracting them from other law enforcement issues and questions.
But Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association president Steve Largent said the new regulations were putting California on the road to higher prices, less choices, and less consumer information.
Kennedy told reporters the suspension would keep the state's wireless phone users from harm because some carriers might have raised their rates or abandoned California altogether if the regulations remained in effect.
