CPUC Plans Call on Verizon Ending Residential, Small Business Services

The California Public Utilities Commission will have a Dec. 4 prehearing conference on a Verizon application to discontinue local exchange service to California residents and small businesses, Administrative Law Judge Seaneen Wilson ruled Thursday in docket A.23-10-002. The virtual meeting starts at 11 a.m. PST. Verizon applied Oct. 2 to discontinue LEC “service and related bundled offerings of local and interexchange voice services to residential and small business customers” across California starting Dec. 31. Verizon said that would affect 3,469 residential customers, including 466 low-income users on California LifeLine, and 202 small-business customers. Verizon would transfer customers to AT&T or a different provider chosen by the customer. Verizon would continue to provide service to large business and enterprise customers, it said. AT&T cautioned Monday that it “will be faced with a potentially time-intensive mass migration project” that can’t be completed by Dec. 31 when Verizon seeks to disconnect. AT&T estimated implementation would take at least 10 weeks from CPUC approval. The Utility Reform Network sees deficiencies in the carrier’s customer notification plans, TURN said Monday at the CPUC. The application lacks detail on AT&T’s services and doesn’t discuss multilanguage or accessible-format notifications, it said. “Ensuring that these customers receive meaningful and accessible notice may mitigate migration problems and prevent double migration.”