State telecom deregulation may...
State telecom deregulation may not be leaving consumers behind, National Regulatory Research Institute Principal Telecom Researcher Sherry Lichtenberg told us. “The dog did not bark in the night,” she said, describing her efforts in recent months to study the states…
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where deregulation has taken place. NRRI is the research arm of NARUC, where Lichtenberg presents her research and is a member of the NARUC Telecom Task Force formed last November. She acknowledged some people’s great fears that reducing telecom regulation would causes prices to spike and create other problems with service quality and availability. She produced an initial study of telecom deregulation throughout the states last summer examining some of these bills. “I'm not sure any of the horrible predictions have come true,” she said. “That said, it’s really, really early.” Deregulation began over the last five years or so, with states like Florida deregulated for the longest periods, she said. But in Florida price increases have been “minor” and complaint levels haven’t changed, she said. She noted the Florida Public Service Commission has somewhat shrunk due to a attrition but that’s a broader trend. The results may suggest multiple possibilities, that consumers are learning to fend for themselves, or that companies are being good citizens, she said. Lichtenberg is putting the final touches on the paper now, which will go through a peer review process in the coming weeks and then will likely be posted online on the institute’s website around mid-April or a little after, she said. “I used to be very worried about this stuff -- I'm not anymore,” Lichtenberg told us.