Since Deregulation, Landline Costs Skyrocket
When California’s telephone market was deregulated in 2006, consumers were told that increased competition would improve service and reduce prices.
It hasn’t worked out like that.
Carlsbad resident Steve Linke has received so-called measured service from AT&T for five years. That means he pays a flat rate each month for a limited number of local calls on his landline phone.
“It’s for peace of mind,” Linke, 45, explained to me. “If there’s an earthquake or some other major emergency, it’s nice to know that we’d still have a landline to call out on when the cell towers go out.”
When Linke first signed up for measured service, the rate was $5.83 a month — a relative bargain for knowing that you won’t be cut off from the world when the whip comes down.
By the beginning of 2012, AT&T’s monthly rate had nearly tripled to $15.37. At the beginning of this year, it rose 19% more to $18.25.
And as of Jan. 1, the rate will climb an additional 16% to $21.25.
That means the monthly cost of measured service has soared more than 260% since Linke first signed up with AT&T in 2008. Not exactly what state regulators had promised.
