Lifeline for landlines.

• Author: Winter, Mary
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS - Consumer protection for and deregulation of landline phone service

AARP Pennsylvania is going to bat for landline phone users who worry they're being shoved aside by the wireless crowd. AARP opposes a bill in Pennsylvania to deregulate phone service, arguing it removes too many consumer protections for landline users, including guards against unfettered rate increases.

In 2011, 23 percent of Pennsylvania households had only wireless phones, compared with 34 percent of U.S. households. The percentage of Pennsylvanians with landline phones only (10 percent) matched the U.S. average, according to the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Landline providers, including Verizon and AT&T, say they are at a disadvantage because their competitors--the new wireless, voice-over-Interact and cable phone services--are largely free of traditional oversight. Bill sponsor Representative Warren Kampf (R) said deregulation would "level the playing field" for all phone companies, adding that at least 20 states have similar measures. He and Verizon officials argue less government oversight leads to more competition, which results in better service for consumers because companies are eager to win and keep their business.

Deregulation opponents disagree. "H.B. 1608 proposes sweeping changes to the current regulatory framework that would severely limit the role of the Public Utility Commission to protect consumers," said AARP Pennsylvania State Director Bill Johnston-Walsh. Under deregulation, phone companies could replace landlines with wireless technology and abandon landlines altogether after 2018 where the cost of maintaining them is high, critics argue. They add that in many rural areas cell phone reception is spotty.

Johnston-Walsh said a recent AARP survey of Pennsylvanians age 50 and older showed 94 percent were satisfied with their landline service, 80 percent...