GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Colorado’s public utilities commission has decided to phase out subsidies for telephone service in isolated parts of the state—a move critics say could lead to higher bills for consumers.
The commission says increased competition among telephone providers no longer justifies subsidies to those providers, The Grand Junction Sentinel reported Wednesday.
But the providers themselves say that despite better technology, Colorado’s mountains are still there.
Establishing wireless or satellite service in remote areas is just as difficult as connecting rural areas always has been, and an end to subsidies could raise prices for rural homes, farms and ranches and businesses, said Pete Kirchhof, executive director of the Colorado Telecommunications Association.
The group represents small, rural telephone companies, including the Delta and Nucla-Naturita telephone companies.
CenturyLink, Colorado’s largest landline provider, said it’s concerned how the PUC will determine which areas have sufficient competition to phase out subsidies. CenturyLink gets roughly $50 million a year from the subsidy because it is considered a provider of last resort in the state.
“It will make it very difficult, it’s safe to say, for rural Colorado to get affordable basic telecommunications services,” argued CenturyLink spokesman Randy Krause.
Bonnie Petersen, executive director of Club 20, said the decision harms rural efforts to improve broadband service. If the decision includes wireless service, consumers could pay higher phone rates, Petersen said.
The commission next takes up the issue in January.
“The definition of basic service is single voice-grade telephone line,” Petersen said. “We need to redefine basic service to say that it includes some level of broadband, which seems appropriate in this day and age considering nearly every person accesses their telecommunication service, which includes some level of data.”
———
Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
