Lumen COLR Relief Request Meets Opposition in Utah

Utah’s consumer advocate opposed relieving Lumen’s CenturyLink of carrier of last resort (COLR) obligations for new customers (see 2306230006). The Utah Public Service Commission received testimony Thursday in docket 23-049-01. “Until there is proper protection for customers without competitive choice, CenturyLink’s petition cannot be found to be in the public interest,” said Alyson Anderson, Utah Office of Consumer Services utility analyst. Anderson agrees with the carrier that “many customers have chosen competing services that are comparable in terms and price,” but she said she’s “concerned there may be pockets of customers or even individual customers within a ‘competitive’ wire center that do not have access to the competitive options available to the wire center as a whole.” Anderson said the PSC should consider requiring plans for maintaining existing telecom infrastructure and service quality. Other commenters also raised concerns. Some areas likely have effective competition, but Utah’s Division of Public Utilities “needs more information to identify areas where an exemption is warranted and areas where the public interest may still require a COLR obligation,” said Ronald Slusher, utility technical consultant. “Mere wire center market share data is not detailed enough to determine where effective competition exists in CenturyLink’s service areas.” The Utah PSC should retain CenturyLink COLR obligations “for much of its service area,” said JSI Director-Economics and Policy Douglas Meredith, a consultant testifying for the Utah Rural Telecom Association. In any area where the commission grants relinquishment, it should require another carrier to have COLR obligations, he said. CenturyLink hasn’t shown effective competition everywhere, said Meredith: It cites fixed wireless and satellite providers but gives “no evidence showing that these services are offered at comparable prices, terms, quality, and conditions as its voice services.”