INDUSTRY NEWS TECHNOLOGY
AT&T wants to be free of mandate to provide landlines
Mar 22, 2017, 8:25am CDT
The Illinois Senate may soon pass a bill that would free AT&T from a legal obligation to provide the region with landline coverage.
The Senate committee approved the bill last Thursday that would amend a rule initially set up by the government to provide universal telephone service, according to The Chicago Tribune. If passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the Federal Communications Commission would be required to sign off on the
JACK PLUNKETT
AT&T claims about 90 percent of consumers have dropped landlines in favor of wireless or internet-based calling services. The telecom company has supported similar legislation in the 21 states, 19 of them have are already updating their laws.
If the bill is approved, AT&T will give customers 60 days' notice, but some critics of the bill believe it might leave some consumers without phone service. AT&T (NYSE: T) isn’t the only telecom required to provide landline service in the state, however consumer groups are concerned that rural and urban low-income users in AT&T’s service area would be affected.
AT&T Illinois president Paul La Schiazza told The Tribune that freeing up money from landline services would let AT&T bring newer technologies that Illinois consumers want. The telecom sector now has more competition as customers eschew landlines for broadband and wireless options.
“We still are required to provide an old-style, voice-only telephone line to every customer in our service territory," La Schiazza told The Tribune. "No competitor is required to do that. They can pick and choose whatever customers they want to serve and they can use whatever available technology that they want to."
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