Local leaders herald legislation being stopped at key committee
A bill local leaders said undermined the California Public Utility Commission’s regulatory authority in trying to drop AT&T’s obligation to be the carrier of last resort by going through the Legislature was pulled from committee.
Assembly Bill 2797 could have permitted AT&T, San Mateo County’s only telephone service provider, from no longer being the county’s carrier of last resort, putting in jeopardy access to reliable telephone services, including for emergency calls, according to a press release from the office of state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo.
The bill was pulled from the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, effectively stopping the bill from becoming law. This bill would no longer require AT&T to be a carrier of last resort or to have any carrier of last resort obligations in, among other places, rural parts of San Mateo County. This move comes after many residents in San Mateo County and their elected officials raised significant concerns about the bill’s adverse impact on the dependability of their telephone service if their land lines were removed, according to the release.