Press Release

HARRISBURG -- The Public Utility Commission (PUC) today voted unanimously to ask the public and the telecommunications industry to submit suggestions on whether the PUC should create a standard method for comparing local telephone offers and, if so, how the standard should be structured.

"The Commission proposes to implement a consumer-education program concerning telephone competition in the Commonwealth," wrote PUC Chairman Glen R. Thomas and Vice Chairman Robert K. Bloom in a joint motion today. "The program would educate consumers about the choice they have between carriers for various services, including but not limited to local and long distance, as well as establish a way to educate consumers on how to read their bills and what questions to ask when they inquire about their services.

"Recent studies indicate that consumers’ preferences are to have prices for the products and services to assist them in making a choice. We would like to accommodate those preferences in a manner that is easily readable, understandable and competitively neutral.

"We believe that prior to the Commission determining this standard, we need input from the public and industry whether or not any standard is appropriate."

In the Electric Choice Program, the PUC created a "price to compare" that established a baseline for consumers to use when comparing and evaluating the offers of competing electricity generation suppliers. Companies were required to price their product in cents per kilowatt-hour.

Today’s order asks whether a similar mechanism should be created for local telephone service. A standard could be used when consumers apply for residential telephone service by phone, giving the consumer the opportunity to make a comparison between the companies offering service in their area.

The Commission also is asking the telecommunications industry to estimate how much it would cost to implement the guidelines establishing a price to compare and presenting the information to their customers through marketing materials, web sites, billing inserts and customer-service contacts.

Today’s order will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Interested parties will have 10 days from the publication date to submit comments to the PUC.