LEWISTON — The Twin Cities will be among the first to lose dedicated, bare-minimum landline telephone service in August, and the American Association for Retired Persons wants to make sure people know about it.
“We want to make sure the information provided is understandable,” AARP spokesperson Amy Gallant said. “These changes are very confusing and we’ve heard from some of our members who are seeing notices in the mail and they are very confused.”
Gallant and AARP are promoting a series of meetings hosted by the Maine Public Utilities Commission throughout Maine in July and August.
In Lewiston, the meeting will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, in City Hall.
A second meeting is set for Auburn Hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2.
“We want to make sure that our members know about the meetings and that they turn out for the meetings,” Gallant said. “We want them to leave the meetings with a better understanding of what will come to pass.”
Legislators did away with the Provider of Last Resort option in Maine telephone services this year, and the change will be rolled out in the state’s 22 largest communities during the next few years. The change starts in August in Bangor, Biddeford, Portland, Sanford, South Portland and Lewiston-Auburn.
Tim Schneider, with the Maine Public Advocates office, said the Provider of Last Resort provision started in 2012 as a way to guarantee minimum telephone service to residents.
“For almost 100 years, there was just one phone company, right?” Schneider said. “But then cellphones came in and cable companies and the whole premise of regulating just one company started to fall away.”
Legislators deregulated most services but kept the bare-minimum standard. FairPoint offers that service, a dial tone and local calling, for $20 per month.
“The premise was that there was competition almost everywhere and that helped keep prices low, but they wanted to make sure that everyone still has access to the most basic levels of service,” Schneider said. “No matter where you were, a company had to offer (Provider of Last Resort), or last resort service, so you could still get a dial tone.”
Now, however, there is enough competition in parts of the state that the last resort service is unnecessary. More rural parts of the state won’t change, but 22 communities will see the last resort service go away. Residents of those communities have options for telephone service, including cellphone and mobile service, through their computer network or through other landline providers.
“The expectation is that FairPoint will continue to offer service in all of these communities, but there is no state regulation requiring them to,” Schneider said. “In these places, we expect prices will stay low because there is competition.”
Gallant said residents, especially senior citizens who rely on a home phone line, need to be aware.
“Older Mainers rely on landline phone service not only for communication but for technologies that keep them safe,” Gallant said. “For example, a pacemaker may rely on a landline telephone service to communicate with their cardiologist. Or a life alert, if they fall and push that little button, that may rely on a landline telephone service to communicate with 911.”
Gallant said the AARP will monitor the change in the first five cities in August. The next five cities, Cape Elizabeth, Gorham, Kennebunk, Scarborough and Waterville, lose their last resort service beginning in February 2017.
Bath, Freeport, Old Orchard Beach, Westbrook and Yarmouth lose last resort service in August 2017 and Augusta, Brewer, Brunswick, Kittery and Windham lose theirs in February 2018.
“We’ll keep a very close eye on this issue,” Gallant said. “If things go awry in the first seven communities, or the next five or the next, we want to make sure that the Legislature knows and has the authority to put a stop to the regulatory roll out and make the necessary changes.”
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