About 30 in Jacksonville discuss Verizon, Sprint and BellSouth's proposal to raise local rates 30 to 90 percent.
By LOUIS HAU
Published October 2, 2003
JACKSONVILLE - Sporting a gold-colored Masonic Lodge medallion around his neck, Robert Fussell strode to the podium at the Duval County school board building to ask members of the Florida Public Service Commission to reject sharp increases in rates sought by the state's local phone companies.
The 75-year-old retired purchasing agent for a shipyard company said rate increases would be tough on his friends and neighbors because most of them live on fixed incomes yet aren't poor enough to qualify for the state's "lifeline" phone discount program.
"We think you ought to look at middle-class people," he said.
Soon after, Mike Hancock, vice president of government sales for a Jacksonville wireless phone dealer, urged PSC members to approve the companies' rate requests. Dressed in a navy blue blazer and a white button-down Ralph Lauren shirt, the 38-year-old Hancock said easing regulation of phone rates will enhance competition and thus benefit consumers in the long run, even if their bills go up at first.
"Competition is always a good thing for the customer in the end," he said.
So it went for PSC commissioners Terry Deason, Rudy Bradley and Charles Davidson, who traveled Wednesday to Jacksonville for the first of at least 14 hearings on requests by Verizon, BellSouth and Sprint to increase basic local rates in exchange for corresponding cuts in the instate access rates they charge long-distance carriers.
The hearing here drew only about 30 local residents, outnumbered by about 35 phone company representatives, consumer advocates, PSC staff members and news media representatives.
Like Hancock, some of them supported the proposed increases.
Sedley Huey, the 65-year-old owner of a small architectural firm, said he expects to benefit from the rate increases because his office frequently sends faxes around the state and will be able to take advantage of any reductions in instate long distance rates. "We support the deal," he said.
But others spoke against the plans to increase basic rates by 30 to 90 percent.
"I don't see why we need to increase phone rates," Wilfred Ward said. "I won't receive any benefit if you decrease any Florida rates because I use a Sam's (Club) card."
Similarly, Norm Dobrowski said long-distance savings wouldn't help him much because his monthly long-distance charges total only about $5 a month, thanks to a calling card.
The rate increase plans have drawn sharp criticism from some civic groups, including the AARP. The association distributed a flyer before Wednesday's meeting deriding the planned increases. "Residential customers will see no net benefits, and the rate increases should be completely denied," AARP said.
The phone companies did not counter with literature of their own, although a representative of BellSouth, the dominant local phone provider here, gave a statement summarizing the case for rate hikes.
- Louis Hau can be reached at hau@sptimes.com or 813 226-3404.
If you go
A hearing on proposed phone rate increases will be held at 1 p.m. Friday in Tampa on the 26th floor of the Hillsborough County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd. The Public Service Commission said it has added a hearing in St.Petersburg on Friday, Oct.24, with details tofollow.
