Washington Gets Jump On Reforms

The historic overhaul of U.S. telecommunications law codifies many reforms already in place in Washington state, regulators and telephone company officials said.

But the pace of change will likely accelerate as competitors push into new markets with more services at prices that should, all services considered, offer a better deal for consumers.

“The customers are the winners,” US West Communications spokesman Harry Grandstrom said.

He said US West will move first to launch long-distance service across the Cascades. The company has been barred from such cross-state service since the breakup of the Bell System in 1984.

“We’re going to be aggressively in that market, and we’re going to be there in 12 to 18 months,” Grandstrom said.

The company, a major shareholder of Time Warner, is evaluating what strategy it might adopt for offering services such as cable television, he added.

Grandstrom said the legislation kept changing right up to the last minute, frustrating planners.

“The idea of what it would look like, you were hazarding a real guess,” he said.

A rate case now before the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission would rebalance US West rates, substantially raising homeowner bills. The commission staff opposes the hikes.

But Grandstrom said consumers will be able to choose the services they want in the future, which should reduce their costs.

The Washington commission was pleased with the final bill, said Teresa Pitts, a telecommunications policy research specialist.

Early versions, she noted, threatened to curtail state authority.

Although the commission will have to adopt new rules with an eye to what the Federal Communications Commission is doing, she said, “We think we’re still in charge of our own destiny.”

Pitts said the commission plans to meet with communications providers later this month to get their reading on the bill’s implications and where the state might have to adjust to fully implement its provisions.

In Idaho, Public Utility Commission telecommunications specialist Eileen Benner said the federal law pre-empts some of the fundamental provisions of state regulations, including a prohibition on competition for local service.

To comply, the commission will have to draft rules and set tariffs that will allow new service providers to enter the Idaho market, she said.

One provision of the federal law, Benner noted, blocks local telephone companies from expanding into long-distance service until competitors enter the marketplace.

GTE, the provider of local telephone service in North Idaho, is anxious to add long-distance, spokesman Bob Wayt said.

The company has put $150 million into North Idaho equipment upgrades in the last five years in anticipation of regulatory reforms, he said.

Wayt said customers want to buy local, long-distance and other communications services from a single provider, something that was not possible until Thursday.

Tel-West Communications, which competes with US West for local telephone customers in Spokane, will be able to improve and expand its service as a result of the new law, President Greg Green said.

“Without a question, the rate for (local) dial-tone service will come down,” he said.

Although the company has focused on business customers, Green said, the federal bill will make it easier to reach residential customers as well.

Long-distance is another option Tel-West intends to offer, he said.

, DataTimes