June 12 Oppose letter re: AB 2797 allowing Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) to no longer to provide service

June 12, 2024 

The Honorable Tina McKinnor 
California State Assembly District 61 
1021 O Street, Suite 5520 
Sacramento, CA 95814 

Re:  AB 2797 (McKinnor) Telephone corporations: carriers of last resort: tariffs - Oppose 

Dear Assemblymember McKinnor, 

On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, I write in respectful opposition to AB 2797, which will allow any Carrier of Last Resort (COLR), in specified areas, to no longer provide service in those locations if the provider submits a notice to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that it meets certain requirements. 

This “gut and amend” legislation would simply accomplish the same aims as AT&T’s application to the CPUC for relief of its Carrier of Last Resort Obligations – the application which Administrative Law Judge Glegola proposed to dismiss because of the significant negative effects it would have to the more than 580,000 customers in California that rely on Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) under AT&T’s COLR obligations. AB 2797 would instead provide a legislative path forward for AT&T to get out from its COLR obligations, and even more concerning, would apply throughout the state to all providers – not just to AT&T territories. 

AB 2797 proposes that in census blocks which where a provider has no basic exchange telephone service customers (as determined by the provider); there is no population; or “urban” areas (census defined) with 2 or more different service providers offering an alternative – a provider simply notifies the CPUC that it is no longer required to provide COLR service to those locations. This may begin as soon as 2026. 

POTS is a lifeline in both rural and suburban areas without cell coverage, as is the case in many parts of Marin. Nearly 630 Marin rural households have no alternative to copper-based landline service – and critically these homes and businesses rely on the copper-based service for emergency alerts such as reverse 911. Most critically during power outages and wildfire events. 

Specifically, some key issues with AB 2797 include: 

1. There is no oversight of any kind for providers in the loose structure in the bill: if a provider determines it is in compliance and an area no longer needs service, there is no oversight party to check this. 
2. COLR service includes important consumer protections, primarily to ensure service is available to residents. For instance, if there is a fire which destroys lines, the provider must build back the infrastructure. Other service “available” in an area may not be a COLR provider – and therefore those protections would no longer apply if the COLR provider left. When the “obligation” status is removed, that means that just because there is service available today, it does not mean it will be available tomorrow. It becomes entirely the discretion of the provider.  
3. The bill’s current definition of “Urban” actually brings in many rural areas. This may be the case in many parts of Marin County which have concentrated population pockets with poor coverage. 
4. The pricing provisions simply do not provide enough protection to consumers in determining what is “reasonable.” The bill allows voice alternatives such as VoIP to be sold as part of a bundle – not simply as stand-alone service. Under the bill, this could be considered a “reasonable” alternative, and a customer could go from paying $35 a month for basic telephone service to $70 for a suite of service they do not need, and cannot afford, because it is the “alternative voice service” available. 
5. Lastly, as noted, this applies throughout the state – not just to ATT territories. All small ILECs, Frontier, etc. would be allowed to use this process to discontinue service.  

For these reasons, the Marin County Board of Supervisors must respectfully oppose AB 2797. 

Sincerely,

Dennis Rodoni, President 
Marin County Board of Supervisors 

Cc: Marin County Board of Supervisors 
Senator Mike McGuire 
Assemblymember Damon Connolly