[1st-mile-nm] PRC - CenturyLink

[Roman Maes]

PRC has no jurisdiction over cable or wireless.....

Roman Maes
NMPR
505-469-1342

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 31, 2013, at 12:42 PM, Gillian Densmore <gil.densmore at gmail.com> wrote:

> What does that do for a bloke like me? I ask because in santa fe  the only people I here about providing a wire to my house is Comcast. It's my understanding that cybermesa just rents the access to the wires. I'd speculate it's possible one reason why Cellular has been getting momentum is kind of pragmatics: from one doodad: I can call, and use the intertubes, the same doodad will happly let my computers use the internet (all for 80-90 a month)
> I'll toss in one  caveat: T-mobile and Verizon, play dirty with the language used in the contract by that I meen in the case of Tmobile 'unlimited' hotspotness actually means that close to a arbitrarily set amount of data munched up they will drop you from "4G" down to Edge.
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Aug 30, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Richard Lowenberg <rl at 1st-mile.com> wrote:
>> 
>> NM PRC moving to deregulate land line phone business
>> 
>> http://www.abqjournal.com/254646/biz/nm-prc-moving-to-deregulate-land-line-phone-business.html
>> 
>> By Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer | 2 days ago
>> 
>> The state Public Regulation Commission ruled Wednesday that most of New
>> Mexico’s residential telephone market is competitive enough to ease
>> regulations for CenturyLink.
>> 
>> The PRC voted 3-2 to declare the residential market for “packaged and
>> bundled” telephone services competitive in 61 of the 65 areas that
>> CenturyLink serves in New Mexico, reflecting steady growth of wireless
>> and cable-telephone providers in those places.
>> 
>> The finding allows the commission to move to the next phase of the case
>> to determine appropriate regulatory relief for CenturyLink, such as
>> eliminating price controls and quality-of-service standards.
>> 
>> Any regulatory changes, however, only will affect packaged services –
>> which encompass basic phone lines with added features such as caller ID
>> and call waiting – as well as bundled contracts that contain
>> non-telephone services like Internet.
>> 
>> Regulation will continue for basic, stand-alone telephone lines and for
>> services provided to business customers, since the commission did not
>> find those markets to be competitive.
>> 
>> CenturyLink, which acquired Qwest Communications International in 2011,
>> is the state’s largest provider of traditional landline phone service.
>> 
>> But the local customer base under Qwest and now CenturyLink has fallen
>> nearly 48 percent since 2001 as cellphone use has exploded and as
>> cable-telephone and Internet-based services have spread.
>> 
>> CenturyLink petitioned the PRC in fall 2011 to declare that effective
>> competition exists in all market segments throughout New Mexico to pave
>> the way for regulatory relief.
>> 
>> In the end, however, the commission accepted PRC hearing examiner
>> Carolyn Glick’s limited finding of competition just in packaged and
>> bundled residential services.
>> 
>> On the other hand, the commission rejected Glick’s recommendation to
>> declare those residential services competitive in all 65 CenturyLink
>> service areas, leaving regulation intact in four rural zones.
>> 
>> It also rejected a recommendation to give CenturyLink another
>> opportunity to present evidence of competition in more market segments,
>> encouraging commissioners Pat Lyons and Valerie Espinoza to vote against
>> the final order.
>> 
>> “I think CenturyLink has a lot of competition from wireless providers,
>> and I don’t think they’ll get much regulatory relief with this order,”
>> Lyons said. “I also think they should have gotten a second chance to
>> prove their case.”
>> 
>> The case will now go back to the hearing examiner to consider
>> regulatory reform, a process that could take up to six to eight months,
>> Glick told the Journal.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----------------------------------------
>> Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
>> 1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
>> P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
>> www.1st-mile.org  rl at 1st-mile.org
>> -----------------------------------------
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> 
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