FCC must protect consumer in telecom reforms

[Commentary] A debate rages at the Federal Communications Commission that affects your pocketbook and your access to broadband.

The FCC appears poised to adopt a plan from America's largest telecommunications companies, including AT&T and Verizon, that will add billions to phone bills, routing those dollars to some of the country's most profitable phone companies without any real accountability or oversight, and strip states of the ability to protect consumers. At this key turning point in the history of telecommunications policy, the FCC must take seriously its obligation to make decisions that are in the public interest. Customer subsidies for universal access to telephone and broadband must provide results at a reasonable cost — and more, not less, accountability for the companies that stand to gain.

[ffitch is a senior assistant attorney general in Washington state]