"Competition" is Failing to Protect Telecom Consumers

A new report finds that telephone service deregulation in California is a disaster, and phone company competition a myth. TURN also has uncovered a previously unreleased study of telephone competition prepared by the Staff of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that reached similar conclusions. "The CPUC's original prediction that market competition would protect consumers has not, unfortunately, been born out," said TURN executive director Mark Toney. 'In fact, Californians are giving a bigger piece of their paychecks to AT&T and Verizon every day." TURN believes responsible regulation of the industry is necessary to the continuation of affordable, universal phone access in California," Toney said. "Despite the CPUC's belief that wireless and wireline are interchangeable, the vast majority of Californians continue to rely on landlines, and they are being gouged."