The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Fairlawn, said the measure frees phone companies from outdated regulations and allows them to spend their time and money on new, high-speed connections.
“Although telecom companies have vast resources, it’s not unlimited when it comes to their infrastructure decisions,” LaRose said. “Those resources are being wasted on vintage services customers are walking away from.”
The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Council has lobbied hard against SB 271, saying Ohio isn’t ready to scrap landlines and deregulating these companies would put people in greatest need of emergency connections at risk.
State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers said his office is looking more closely into the bill’s impact on landline-based security systems. Flowers said most Ohio counties have upgraded their 9-1-1 systems to detect cell phone location.
But a cell phone’s exact location isn’t always known, said Mike Combs, Clark County’s 9-1-1 coordinator.
On a 9-1-1 Phase I call, only the cell phone number and the tower it’s connected with is known, Combs said, leaving a wide area where the phone could be. “We might not be able to find you,” he said.
About 37 percent of the 7,900 emergency calls in February in Clark County were Phase I.
In a Phase II call, the cell phone is pinpointed using triangulation among several towers, he said. About 36 percent were Phase II.
And, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said, there are areas like some parts of Harmony and Pleasant twps. where there is little or no cell phone reception.
“There are many people in Clark County who do not have a cell phone,” Kelly added. “If you eliminate landlines, you would put these people out there without a means to report a crime.”
Not all customers have options that are reliable and affordable, said Amy Kurt, Consumer Council director of government affairs.
The bill passed the Senate Public Utilities Committee, whose members received nearly $40,000 from telephone political action committees in 2011, according to a Springfield News-Sun analysis. It passed the Senate and awaits a House hearing.
Champaign County Interim Sheriff Matt Melvin also worries about areas with no cell phone reception.
“In these same areas, many times, my deputies’ portable radios are unable to operate properly, therefore, they also have in the past used the landline of a residence to obtain information from the 9-1-1 center,” he said.
Seniors: Too early to stop landlines
About 1 million Ohio residents use only a landline connection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. AARP and other groups are fighting the bill.
Lee Ann Lopez, proprietor of Lee Ann’s Dairy Delights in Springfield and a landline user, said she worries about the elderly who may not want or be able to use cell or Internet-based phones.
She prefers to use a landline phone at her home and business and subscribes to a low-minute cell phone plan for emergency use only. Her mother also has a landline.
“It’s a bad situation and it worries me a lot about the older generations,” she said.
News-Sun Facebook users were also concerned about their safety and of their loved ones.
“We have a landline and so do my parents. When power goes out, wireless phones don’t work. Landlines (in most instances) keep on plugging,” wrote Denise Sutherland.
Phone companies argue the “carrier of last resort” requirement is outdated.
High-speed Internet is available to 99.2 percent of Ohioans, according to the National Broadband Plan.
More than 61,400 landline telephone numbers exist in Clark County and there are about 60,700 households of 1,000 square feet or more in Clark County, according to data provided by the 9-1-1 center.
“Our customers clearly voted with their feet,” said Sarah Briggs, public affairs director for AT&T Ohio. “This bill is about unlocking investment and allowing us to invest in growing areas of our business.”
Briggs said money used to install and maintain landline service could be better used to improve services such as DSL and mobile broadband networks.
PUCO could exempt companies from landline service if they prove competitiveness under the 2010 law. A handful of companies have been deemed competitive, according to a Consumers Council analysis.
The council’s Kurt said the loose rule could allow companies to pass the test by showing wireless coverage by two providers is available, even if the reception is spotty. Carriers could pull landlines or offer more expensive plans.
If all providers withdrew from an area, the PUCO would have to develop a process and provide funding to make sure customers had at least one carrier, but could not compel a company to provide service. The bill identifies two federal funding sources that Kurt said can’t be used at the discretion of the PUCO.
Sen. LaRose doesn’t expect carriers would pull out of areas where they’ve invested in the infrastructure. He said the law would more likely affect new housing developments.
“This is about making sure Ohio is competitive when it comes to those high-tech jobs that rely on reliable high speed Internet access,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to leave Ohio in the 20th century while everyone is in the 21st.”
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