Telecom bill of rights revived

[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Ryan Kim rkim@sfchronicle.com]
The California Public Utilities Commission is about to take up competing proposals to resurrect a far-reaching telecommunications consumer bill of rights that has been on the shelf for a year. Commissioner Dian Gruenreich unveiled a proposal on Wednesday that would restore key components to strengthen consumer rights that she argues were removed from the original draft of the bill of rights. Her proposal comes a month after Commission President Michael Peevey unveiled his proposed bill of rights that consumer-rights proponents have decried as too soft. One of the proposals, or perhaps a hybrid of the two, will replace a consumer of bill of rights that was first approved in May 2004 but later shelved a year ago after concerns from telecommunication industry officials who complained about its "onerous'' requirements. The bill of rights, one of the most progressive in the country, took four years to negotiate but lasted only eight months. It was suspended after two of its supporters left office.
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