Traditional phone lines may go away

State regulators and a seniors group are trying to hang up on a move to speed the drop of traditional land-line phone service in Michigan, a proposal the state’s largest telephone company says would ease adoption of new technology and improve its competitiveness.

A bill affecting all phone companies, but clearly linked to a technology changeover by phone giant AT&T, would let a telecommunications firm end traditional land-line phone service with 90 days’ notice, effective in three years. The proposal under debate in a Senate committee would cut in half the time for the state approval process, but opponents want safeguards built into the legislation to ensure families aren’t stripped of land-line service and left vulnerable. “Many seniors and families rely on the safety net” of traditional phone lines, said Melissa Seifert, government affairs director for AARP in Michigan. In addition, “Our concern is whether they’re leaving behind people who rely on services like a dialysis machines or Lifeline (Medical Alert) that require land lines.” AT&T Michigan public affairs director Matt Resch said the company believes the Federal Communications Commission should oversee its nationwide build-out of new technology called Voice Over Internet Protocols or VOIP phone service. The technology is an improvement that meets new consumer needs in the digital age, he said. “It’s really more for a streamlining of the process, a bureaucratic streamlining,” Resch said. The legislative debate is occurring as traditional land-line customers in Michigan have declined more than 60 percent to 2.6 million in 2012 from 6.6 million in 2000, according to FCC statistics.

(Nov 30)