Kansas and Kentucky legislatures both advanced telecom deregulation bills in...

telecom study committee at the Legislature. Kansas companies would, if the bill becomes law, no longer have to do a number of things. They'd be excused from being carriers of last resort, being subject to price cap regulation for Lifeline services or having to participate in the Kansas Lifeline Service Program, complying with intrastate access charge requirements or state commission requirements on consumer protection, minimum quality of service standards and statewide long distance price regulation, said the bill’s supplemental text (http://bit.ly/Y6VwoP). Kansas Corporation Commission staff told state legislators earlier this month it’s officially neutral on the bill (http://1.usa.gov/132fh6v). Last week, the Kentucky Senate passed by 24-13 Senate Bill 88, now under consideration in the House. It would reduce telcos’ regulatory obligations for delivery and maintenance of landline service. “Nothing in current law requires that basic standalone phone service be delivered using a particular technology, just that it be reliable and provide basic services on a standalone basis,” said Director of the Kentucky Resources Council Tom FitzGerald in a Monday op-ed at KYForward (http://bit.ly/W1Xome). He’s critical of the bill, calling it a “bad deal” for Kentucky consumers and arguing that wireless is no substitute for landline phones. “I think what Kentucky is doing is looking at the map,” American Legislative Exchange Council’s John Stephenson, director of ALEC’s Communications and Technology Task Force, told us. Kentucky’s neighboring states have deregulated telecom to varying degrees, he said, crediting the move with welcoming investment. Kentucky’s driving consideration, in his mind, was: “Why should we miss out on this?” The bill and similar laws passed in other states haven’t hurt consumers, he said.