AT&T stands to benefit enormously from the latest attempt to deregulate telecommunications services that could leave rural Michigan residents without a phone line, strips consumer protection and oversight rules to protect ratepayers, and wipes out the state Public Service Commission’s (PSC) traditional role of arbitrating telephone service and billing disputes.  In short, it delivers all of the benefits to AT&T and hangs up on Michigan consumers when their telephone service goes wrong.

AT&T  has found a real friend in Rep. Ken Horn (R-Frankenmuth), who introduced H.4314, a bill to overhaul Michigan’s telecommunications law.  Horn is AT&T’s top recipient of political contributions made by the company (and its employees) in the Michigan House.  He’s the third largest recipient of phone company money in the state, according to records from Project Vote Smart.  Horn’s bill delivers absolutely no discernible benefits to Michigan ratepayers.  Instead, Christmas comes early for big phone companies as Horn’s bill fulfills a wish list drawn up to eliminate decades of consumer-friendly protections:

1. Eliminates the PSC’s annual report on telecom competition and rate fairness in Michigan;
2. Allows AT&T to stop cooperating with the PSC in supplying information to help produce said report;
3. Strips away the requirement that companies like AT&T keep proper records that show the costs of delivering their services to customers;
4. Allows companies to keep secret the rates for services delivered by contract;
5. Eliminates the requirement that companies like AT&T deliver “high quality basic local service” to all residents in the state;
6. Expires all service quality standards established by the Commission on June 30, 2011;
7. Allows companies to escape punishment by eliminating the PSC’s authority to issue fines, cease and desist orders, or revocation of service licenses when a company has violated state law;
8. Requires all parties in a mediated dispute to keep the outcome secret;
9. Eliminates state-mandated fair billing practices;
10. Permits AT&T and other companies to sell, lease, or otherwise transfer assets and sell service to an affiliate below cost;
11. Allows companies to discriminate in favor of an affiliated burglar and fire alarm service over a similar service offered by another provider;
12. Eliminates the requirement that companies provide each customer a clear and simple explanation of the terms and conditions of services purchased by the customer and a statement of all fees, charges, and taxes that will be included in the customer’s monthly bill.
13. Allows AT&T and other providers to market products and services without giving the customer a true and fair estimate of the real “out the door” price for service — after taxes, fees, and surcharges.
14. Allows AT&T and other phone companies to discontinue service in any area provided with anything resembling a two-way telecommunications service including wireless, radio, or Voice Over IP service;
15. Eliminates the telecommunication relay service advisory board, which ensures quality service to the hard of hearing and deaf communities;
16. Reduces privacy guideline requirements protecting customers.

In tandem with Horn’s bill, AT&T released a congratulatory brochure reminding legislators they got the first half of their agenda enacted six years ago, now it is time for the rest of their dreams to come true.

Calling the proposed bill part of  “an innovation agenda to ‘modernize’ Michigan’s Telecommunications Act,” AT&T characterized the legislation as the ultimate red tape cutter, eliminating “a rotary phone mentality in a Smartphone, Wi-Fi world.”

Innovation, AT&T Style

But the proposed bill goes well beyond eliminating what AT&T considers outdated regulations and old phones — it could also eliminate phone service to Michigan’s most rural communities.

President Barack Obama was in Michigan last month to promote expanding broadband service, particularly in sparsely covered communities in the upper peninsula.  Large sections of Michigan remain underserved by AT&T, who does not extend DSL service into many rural areas.  Nothing in AT&T’s reform measure will bring broadband to these areas.  In fact, the bill grants AT&T permission to abandon landline service to these areas altogether, taking the prospects for DSL with it.

By winning an unrestrained playground for its products and services, for which it can charge whatever it likes — AT&T will follow Verizon’s lead and enhance service through its U-verse platform in urban and wealthy areas of the state at the expense of rural areas which are deemed unprofitable to serve.  While that’s great news for AT&T’s profit and loss statement, it hardly benefits the residents of Michigan who have helped build AT&T’s enormous network with decades of bill payments.

AT&T has a different position, of course. The phone company claims the bill will “better serve consumers” by eliminating “non-productive investments,” which really means investments in a landline network many Americans in more urban areas don’t care about anymore.  AT&T has focused much of its attention on its wireless network, which can deliver benefits to residents in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Saginaw and Grand Rapids, but is hardly a broadband replacement for Marquette or Elk Rapids — not with that 2GB monthly usage cap.  For urban dwellers, the promise of AT&T U-verse replacing AT&T DSL makes the phone company relevant in the broadband marketplace once again, but at the potential price of rural Michigan, who will never see the service in their neck of the woods.

AT&T claims their telecom reform agenda “means putting up a sign that says we are a state that gets it and will welcome and not restrain innovation,” the company says. “20th century regulations stand in the way of 21st century technology. Now is the opportunity to clear these roadblocks to investment and innovation.”

But AT&T’s policy bulldozer does far more than just sweeping away so-called “outdated” regulations.  It strips away fundamental consumer protection from unfair rate hikes, deteriorating phone service, billing errors, privacy protection, and the most basic right Americans have counted on for decades — the opportunity to purchase affordable landline service in even the most rural parts of the state.

Unfortunately, AT&T’s “innovation agenda” is deregulation at a price.  In Ohio, after similar legislation was passed, AT&T promptly raised rates on consumers last summer.  They did the same thing in California.  And Illinois.  Even U-verse, while delivering a second option for urban residents, simply does not save most subscribers money, especially after the introductory promotional rate expires.  It comes with rate hikes itself.

The Michigan Telephone Blog analyzes most of the bill’s outcomes with the same skeptical eye we have, and delivers a warning to other phone companies and businesses that could pay the price for AT&T’s version of “reform”:

If you are with a CLEC, an alarm company, or really any business that depends on telecommunications service in Michigan, you probably should have your legal department and/or your tariff guys looking at this bill.  If you belong to any type of consumer or business organization, especially one that protects senior citizens (who often hang onto the older technology, including the phone service they’ve always used) or small businesses (that often can’t move to other technologies for various reasons, particularly when they are located in less densely-populated areas), you should probably take a close look at this bill as well.

AT&T Customers in southeastern Tennessee continue to get bill shock from company mistakes

AT&T continues to bill some of its customers across Tennessee for long distance calls that were supposed to be free under the unlimited long distance calling plans.  Stop the Cap! first reported this story back on April 12th, with company officials apologizing for what they called a “computer glitch.”  But the bills just keep on coming.

One Clarksville woman has been forced to call AT&T almost daily to address overcharges now exceeding $3,o00 for an AT&T Unlimited Nationwide Calling plan that is supposed to cost her $25 a month.

Although AT&T keeps crediting the overcharges on her account, Belinda Horton is exasperated having to first confront an inaccurate bill and then deal with AT&T customer service to credit back the charges.  That has been part of her routine for at least four months, with no resolution in sight.

“I’m not trying to get anything off of then and I don’t except charity, I just want them to fix my bill and fix it correctly,” she told WKRN News 2 in Nashville.  A reporter sat in on a typical call Horton makes to AT&T’s customer service to cope with the routine overcharging.  At the end of the call, the customer service agent tells Horton she’s sorry she can’t completely resolve the matter to her satisfaction.

Company officials continue to blame the billing error on computer problems.  Although Horton’s calling plan is supposed to let her make unlimited long distance calls for a flat monthly rate, the company keeps billing her calls by the minute at standard long distance rates.  The result has been staggering bills in the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Belinda Horton from Clarksville, Tenn. is exasperated to learn she has been overbilled yet again while she speaks with AT&T customer service (Photo: WKRN News - Nashville)

WKRN News talked with Tom Jarkovitch at AT&T, who admitted the glitch has impacted 15,000 Tennessee residents.

“There were a few folks, those are the ones were working on manually and again, as a sub set of people that were not captured for whatever reason we think that’s going to be corrected in a matter of days,” he said.

Unfortunately for AT&T, there are indications the problem is impacting a larger number of customers than Jarkovitch admits.

Another customer in the Nashville area also being overbilled every month since last October said they had enough — they disconnected their AT&T service and went with a competitor:

“I have had the same problem since October of 2009. Every month, I have to call AT&T and ask why the problem has not been fixed. Again and again I am told that it should be fixed before the next billing cycle.  It is now nearly May and I still have to call them on a monthly basis. As a matter of fact, I just received my bill yesterday, and again, same thing. Well, that is my last bill because as of last month, I changed my home phone service carrier. I will no longer use AT&T services.”

With complaints like these still rolling in, the Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) Monday compelled AT&T to appear to discuss the ongoing billing problems and AT&T’s plans to resolve them once and for all.

AT&T’s legal counsel, Guy Hicks, apologized for AT&T.

“It has already gone on too long, and for that AT&T apologizes,” Hicks told the Authority.

Month after month, many AT&T Unlimited long distance customers in Tennessee are billed by the minute for every long distance call, leading to staggering bills like this.

But Hicks also claimed the problem only impacted customers from periods ranging from August 18 to September 8 and October 31 to December 2, a claim that doesn’t ring true in light of Belinda Horton’s ongoing billing issues.

When asked specifically whether every dime unjustly charged to Tennessee customers had been refunded, Hicks did not say yes, instead claiming that “the vast majority of credits or refunds have been made and are continuing to be made.”

“As late as Friday, we were called and charges were still on their bill,” said TRA’s Tevin Thompson. “She didn’t have a paper bill yet, but she was quoted a total, and there were still errors on the bill.”

Our Take

It was disappointing to see the TRA praising AT&T at the end of Monday’s meeting.  This is an ongoing nightmare for some customers, and TRA officials seemed all too ready to applaud the company for its promises to fix the problem while Tennessee residents continue to be overbilled.  The time for praise comes after the company resolves the issue and every customer has been credited for every error.  AT&T has promised it would resolve these billing problems for nearly a month, with complaints still arriving even as the Authority met.

The Leaf Chronicle, the daily newspaper serving Clarksville, notes TRA officials seemed satisfied with AT&T’s Apologypoloza:

State regulatory directors appear to be satisfied AT&T has made an effort to correct a billing glitch that could have affected as many as 15,000 customers.

AT&T officials were called before the Tennessee Regulatory Agency on Monday to explain why some customers have been incorrectly billed for services since the fall.

“From what I gathered, the response they received (from AT&T) was satisfactory,” said Shirley Frierson, senior policy adviser to the TRA chairman. “That is as long as in a month or so, we don’t get more complaints about the same problem.”

At this point, appropriate compensation for impacted customers that have coped with overcharges for months on end should be more than simply crediting back their mistakes.  For folks like Belinda Horton, a year of free long distance calling would go a lot farther to demonstrate AT&T’s goodwill.  After all, she had to spend countless hours trying to fix a problem that wasn’t her fault.  Take it out of AT&T’s massive lobbying budget and do the right thing by your customers.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WKRN Nashville ATT Overbilling in Tennessee 4-27-10.flv[/flv]

WKRN-TV in Nashville spoke at length with Clarksville resident Belinda Horton who faced months of staggering phone bills.  The reporter even sat in on a call Horton made to AT&T customer service.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSMV Nashville ATT Answers To Long-Distance Billing Errors 4-26-10.flv[/flv]

WSMV-TV in Nashville also spoke with Horton and covered Monday’s meeting with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, a public utility commission, over ongoing AT&T billing problems.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”368″ height=”228″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTVF Nashville ATT Meets With Regulators Regarding Overcharging 4-27-10.flv[/flv]

Finally, WTVF-TV in Nashville also ran a report showcasing Horton’s billing problems and interviewed an AT&T representative about what will be done about it.  (2 minutes)