Ohio Commissioners Find Hands Tied on Payphone Rules
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio lacks discretionary authority to waive payphone rules for AT&T, commissioners decided at a livestreamed meeting Wednesday. Despite one member saying he’s sympathetic to AT&T, commissioners unanimously denied the telco's motion to waive a requirement…
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that it provide a pay telephone access line and local usage to payphone service providers upon request. It makes sense to change policy, with payphone demand dwindling, but the statute doesn’t give PUCO leeway to waive the rule, said Commissioner Daniel Conway. “Our hands seem to be tied.” Other parts of the same law, including on 911 and telecom relay service, remain relevant, he noted. AT&T will determine next steps after reviewing the order, a spokesperson said. The Ohio commission unanimously voted for two other items involving a 2019 telecom deregulation law. Commissioners supported seeking comment by Sept. 1 and replies by Sept. 10 on draft rules on allowing ILECs to forego carrier of last resort obligations. Also, PUCO adopted an order requiring ILECs to file information so the commission can count basic local exchange service lines for a report required by the 2019 law.