Monday, April 27, 2009
Kiss cheap phone calls goodbye, the legislature has deregulated the phone company
by Larry Geller
Yup, ignoring the need for real data, the legislature today passed SB603 which Governor Lingle, a good Republican, will likely sign into law.
The Hawaii Legislature has passed a bill eliminating the oversight of Hawaiian Telcom by the state Public Utilities Commission.
Lawmakers voted Monday to approve Senate Bill 603, which removes the PUC’s regulation of Hawaiian Telcom’s land-line rates and services.
The bill goes to Gov. Linda Lingle for approval and would take effect immediately if signed. [bizjournals.com, Bill to end Hawaiian Telcom regulation passes,4/27/2009]
Not only can your phone bill go up (or down, actually), but I wonder how this will affect Hawaii’s business competitiveness. Add to high costs of shipping etc. the possibility of unregulated phone charges.
But we residents can’t go somewhere else, we’re stuck, unless we cancel our service altogether. So thank you, state legislators.
As I wrote earlier, deregulation is a great boon to the Carlyle Group, increasing the value of their weak asset should they move to sell it. And why wouldn’t they do that now.
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