Groups oppose Ohio bill to drop landline services

Proposed state legislation that could allow phone companies to get out of the landline business is drawing opposition from consumer groups who say the bill would hurt older and low-income Ohioans in rural areas.

Various consumer groups held a news conference in Columbus on Monday to oppose Senate Bill 271, which was approved by the state Senate and is awaiting a hearing in the House of Representatives. The bill would let phone companies out of the current requirement to provide basic phone service for all residents.

Companies could discontinue basic landline service beginning in 2013 in areas deemed competitive by Ohio's Public Utilities Commission. An area could be deemed competitive if for the moment two telecommunications providers offer services just as cellphone, cable Internet or digital phone service there.

"Seniors rely on landline telephone service to keep their connection with their families, medical providers and government agencies," Mike Walters managing attorney for Pro Seniors legal hotline, said in a statement afterwards the news conference.

Many Ohioans would no longer have the landline option, and access to affordable and reliable phone service by rural and low-income clients would be at risk, the groups said.

The president of Ohio Telcom Association

The president of Ohio Telcom Association, which represents AT&T Ohio and other telecommunication companies that support the bill, said Monday that the legislation would modernize the state's telecommunications law and "is the then logical step to making Ohio more competitive."

Companies now must provide basic local telephone service to any resident who requests it, and companies wanting to drop landline service must apply for a waiver from the state Public Utilities Commission. They would have to show that withdrawing the service would be in the public interest and identify affected clients, said Marty Berkowitz, a spokesman for the Ohio Consumer Counsel's office, which opposes the bill in its present form.

Ann C. Bell, of the Dayton suburb of Oakwood, told the newspaper that she doesn't want to switch from her landline to a cellphone.