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Salvation from DSL hell
California is leading the charge in helping frustrated consumers address service complaints. |
By Rik Fairlie
Editor, Computer Shopper
(5/1/02)
The ruling, for now, gives Californians a helping hand in filing complaints about faulty DSL service, which have been frequent, especially regarding pipeline possessors such as SBC Pacific Bell. It's important to note that the commission is not asserting jurisdiction over all DSL providers. Rather, if a telephone company offers DSL, the CPUC will step in and protect consumers if they discover irregularities in monthly phone bills and service.
In addition to Pac Bell, the CPUC has jurisdiction over DSL providers Covad and Verizon. Those who sign up for DSL with providers that are not telcos, such as EarthLink, are out of luck. Fortunately, roughly 90 percent of DSL subscribers in the state get service from a phone company, primarily Pac Bell, says Tom Long, adviser to CPUC president Loretta Lynch. The agency cannot help those who purchase high-speed access from cable companies because cable is not judged to be a public utility.
For whom Pac Bell tolls
The CPUC's ruling is an important move because many state utility commissions have declined to handle complaints about DSL. And that has left those with DSL woes with two unsavory options: beg their providers for help or take their complaints to the FCC.
| Companies such as Pacific Bell use their phone service as leverage to coerce customers into paying disputed charges or keeping DSL service that the customers find inadequate. |  |
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The CPUC, like the FCC, may not have an army of personnel available to fight errant DSL providers. But the state commission does have some potent ammunition: it grants the licenses that telcos need to operate as public utilities. "We can put them out of business, or we can levy fines," Long says.
One of the most common types of service complaint in California is cramming, a practice in which DSL providers simply tack on DSL charges to a customer's monthly phone bill without the customer's knowledge and without even installing the service. The practice became such a reccurring nightmare for Pac Bell customers that the CPUC and UCAN initiated a formal investigation. Results of this study are not yet available, although UCAN launched an independent investigation that claims that 100,000 California consumers have fallen victim to Pac Bell's questionable business practices.
"I think the key here is that companies such as Pacific Bell use their phone service as leverage to coerce customers into paying disputed charges or keeping DSL service that the customers find inadequate," says Shames.
California leads the way
Shames predicts state involvement in regulating DSL service will spread to other states, noting that Illinois and Massachusetts are likely to be next because problems are abundant in those states and their regulatory agencies are active. "This kind of customer abuse will trigger regulatory intervention in most states--not just California," Shames says. "And because the DSL market is inadequately competitive, it is entirely legitimate for the regulatory bodies to intervene."
In fact, regulatory commissions of seven states have said that they would address billing complaints on DSL issues, according to Long. But time may not be on their side, given the current antiregulatory rumblings in Congress.
| Because the DSL market is inadequately competitive, it is entirely legitimate for the regulatory bodies to intervene. | |
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And a spanking-new companion bill will soon be introduced in the Senate by Senator John Breaux (D-Louisiana), Long says. "It's couched in a different way, but the result is the same: to deregulate DSL and cable service," he says. It also aims to eliminate the public utilities commissions' regulatory role.
So, if you're having an unresolved problem with DSL, don't delay in contacting your state public utilities commission. Every state has one, and it could prove useful--for now, anyway.
Are you getting the runaround on DSL service problems? TalkBack to me!
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Rik Fairlie is the editor of Computer Shopper magazine. Questions or comments? Let us know.
