Pa. PUC Votes 2-1 for Telecom Deregulation

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission chair was overruled by colleagues on telecom deregulation at a teleconferenced meeting Thursday. Vice Chair John Coleman and Commissioner Ralph Yanora supported Coleman’s motion to slash more rules than proposed in the draft order. Chair Gladys Brown Dutrieuille voted no to the motion and the item overall. “There are areas of Pennsylvania today where competition is ineffective,” she said.

The chair is in the commission minority due to two vacancies left by registered Democrats, a scenario not unlike what some feared for the FCC (see 2110260076) before two recent nominations. Ex-PUC Commissioner Andrew Place left in spring 2020. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) nominated a replacement, but the GOP-controlled Senate didn’t consider confirmation and the governor withdrew the nomination. Former Commissioner David Sweet left Oct. 1 after his term expired in the spring. Wolf hasn’t since floated nominees for either seat. Pennsylvania commissioners don’t officially list political affiliation. Dutrieuille is a Democrat and Coleman and Yanora are Republicans. Wolf’s office didn’t comment.

The deregulatory decision follows an April 2020 NPRM on revising chapters 63 and 64 of its regulations in docket L-2018-3001391 (see 2008270046). In comments earlier this year, Verizon and CLECs sought more aggressive deregulation than the PUC first proposed, while the state consumer advocate cautioned against overstating competition (see 2106250022). The proceeding originally was on whether temporary waivers of certain rules for Verizon should be made permanent and extended to other LECs.

The adopted Coleman motion also rescinds rules on credits for service interruptions, installation standards and transmission. They’re unnecessary due to competition, he said: Any problems could be addressed by a separate rule requiring telcos to provide “safe, adequate, reliable and reasonable service.”

Coleman analogized the order to “hitting a double” in baseball: “It really strikes a nice balance here in not going too far and eliminating the protections for consumers, but it does reform the regulations to reflect the reality of what’s actually happening in the telecommunications industry.” Existing rules are from monopoly times, but technology changed and there is more competition including from VoIP and wireless, said Coleman: It doesn’t justify eliminating all rules, rather a “surgical approach.”

Dutrieuille supports a “moderate and gradual approach to revising our regulations,” she said (see also her written statement). She would reissue proposed rules and get additional input as recommended by the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission: “I do not support wholesale or aggressive rescission of our regulations based on a premise that telecommunications competition exists today in Pennsylvania.” That’s not a legal criterion for deregulation, “but even if it were, the record comments do not present evidence to support it,” she said. She cited a 2018 FCC report showing more than 600,000 Pennsylvanians lack broadband.

"Verizon supports the reform of outdated regulations that inhibit technological innovation and access," a spokesperson said.