A move Tuesday to allow Qwest Communications to boost its landline rates by up to 32 percent has one state senator saying, “Hold the phone!”
Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, said he plans to kill an amendment added by a Senate committee that would permit the cap on traditional phone fees to jump to an estimated $19.61 from $14.88.
The amendment was added in the business and labor committee on a 5-2 vote to the standard bill that reauthorizes the Public Utilities Commission. Voting against were Sens. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, and Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village.
“I don’t believe this is the sort of thing you do with a sunset bill,” Hagedorn said. “It’s the wrong place, though I’m not necessarily opposed to what they’re doing.”
Hagedorn, who said Qwest should lobby for separate legislation, plans to address the proposed cap increase when the bill reaches the Senate floor.
A spokeswoman for the communications company said that Qwest still would have to request rate changes from the utilities commission and that rates wouldn’t jump tomorrow.
“We’re not setting the rates; inflation is,” Jennifer Barton said, “just like fuel prices, costs for cable and costs for groceries.”
Qwest has not asked for a rate increase since 1995, according to utilities commission officials.
Barton said part of the profit from future rate hikes would go to expand broadband into rural communities.
But that promise didn’t satisfy AARP advocates who lobbied against the amendment Tuesday.
They argued that for many of their elderly constituents, a landline is a lifeline for emergency and care services.
Qwest can raise fees up to 5 percent based on a utilities-commission formula. The company, however, wants the flexibility to increase fees based solely on inflation.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
