Editorial: Phone deregulation has been a headache

Friday, Dec. 21, 2001 | 4:10 a.m.

Long-distance telephone companies love to point out what benefits they believe have come out of the 1996 legislation that deregulated the telecommunications industry. They tout the new array of choices that people have when selecting a long-distance carrier and all the technological advances, such as wireless phone service, that have occurred. The industry fails to mention, however, the terrible customer service, all those annoying phone sales pitches during dinner time, and how unscrupulous companies take advantage of customers.

A story on last Sunday's CBS news program, "60 Minutes," brought home the pitfalls of telephone deregulation: Customers have been sent bills after they've terminated their service; customers get charged for services they've never ordered; and television commercials mislead the public into thinking they can get low rates, only to find out later that the fine print prevents those savings from materializing.

Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and state public utlities commissions should investigate and hold hearings into the failings that have marked the deregulation of the telecommunications industry. There definitely is a need for greater consumer protection: Government should rein in the industry by putting in place regulations that better protect the customer.