Colorado Bill to Deregulate Rates, Phase out State USF
Colorado Republicans Sen. Mark Scheffel and Rep. Carole Murray proposed a measure to remove state regulators’ control over certain rates and eliminate the state high-cost fund by 2031. While companies like AT&T claim the bill is good for innovation and job creation, consumer advocates cautioned of rate increases and a weaker consumer protection mechanism.
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SB-262 would order the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to withdraw price controls for all services except basic local exchange service and emergency service and to periodically re-examine whether competition has advanced sufficiently in particular areas so that price controls on these services may also be withdrawn. The bill preserves the PUC’s jurisdiction over service quality, including the authority to receive and resolve consumer complaints. Additionally, the bill would allow companies to increase the regulated basic service rate by one dollar per year, said William Levis with the Office of the Consumer Counsel, saying the bill means higher rates for consumers. The bill would also require wholesale carriers to incrementally adjust their rates for access over a period of time until their intrastate rates match their interstate rates as filed with the FCC.
Colorado can no longer operate under laws that were largely created in the 1980’s, said Bill Soards, president of AT&T Colorado. The bill would move Colorado into the future by modernizing telecom laws, reducing provider subsidies and streamlining regulations, he said. “We need healthy, strong networks in Colorado as we deploy mobile broadband solutions” and the bill is a step in the right direction to bring innovation and additional broadband investment, he said.
Meanwhile, state legislators found that support for basic local exchange service is a “burden” on Colorado consumers, but the “burden” is necessary to support the goal of universal basic local exchange service. As a result, it’s best to sunset the state high-cost support and have the PUC re-evaluate whether the areas currently designed as rural or high-cost for purposes of high-cost support remain rural or high-cost, the bill text said. It orders the PUC to eliminate all support on or before Jan. 1, 2031.
Though CenturyLink appreciates the effort to reduce the state’s regulatory environment and to encourage investment, the bill falls short of the mark and, in its present form, would increase regulation, discourage investment and slow broadband deployment in rural Colorado, said Jim Campbell, a vice president of CenturyLink’s Mountain region in Denver. Levis noted there’s a proposal at the PUC for the agency to increase the surcharge to support the high-cost fund. Consumers would end up paying into the fund, he said. The Office of Consumer Counsel urged limiting supported access lines to one access facility (wireline or wireless) per household, he said. He also urged adding provisions that would strengthen consumer protection in the state.
The bill also calls for deregulation of interconnected VoIP, which the VON Coalition supports, the group’s executive director, Glenn Richards, said.