CWA and People’s Counsel to DC regulators: protect customers during the tech transition

The Communications Workers of America and the DC People’s Counsel supports District of Columbia Public Services Commission (DC PSC) proposals to protect consumers during the technology transition. If approved, the proposed rules will ensure customers in the District have access to emergency services when the power goes out and aren’t left behind as companies move from copper to fiber and wireless networks.

Unlike legacy circuit-switched networks, fiber and wireless networks don’t carry their own electricity. When the power goes out, which is not uncommon in DC, customers connected to an IP network will lose phone service – which means no connection to 9-1-1 in case of emergency.

The FCC already requires providers of non-line powered phone service to offer customers a back-up battery. Now the DC PSC proposes to go further -- requiring a battery with a minimum of 25 hours of back-up power provided free of charge to the customer.

The DC PSC also proposed rules to regulate copper network retirement. The rules would require companies to file detailed exit plans with the DC PSC and notify customers of coming changes well in advance. CWA urged rules to protect against allowing any phone company to replace legacy service with an inferior service, such as Verizon’s fixed wireless Voice Link.

Read the comments here and here.

Links:

CWA Comments to DC PSC on Service Discontinuance and Copper Abandonment (CWA, July 25, 2016)

CWA Comments to DC PSC on Back-Up Batteries (CWA, July 25, 2016)

People’s Counsel to DC PSC on Back-Up Batteries and Service Discontinuance (DC OPC, July 25, 2016)