Consumers' Voice Reports Christmas Comes Early for SBC, Sprint.Business Editors CARSON CITY Carson City, city (1990 pop. 40,443), state capital, W Nev., in the Eagle valley; inc. 1875. The city is a trade center for a mining and agricultural area. State government is the major employer, and tourism is economically important. , Nev.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2003 Telephone bills will go up, consumer protections will be emasculated e·mas·cu·late tr.v. e·mas·cu·lat·ed, e·mas·cu·lat·ing, e·mas·cu·lates 1. To castrate. 2. To deprive of strength or vigor; weaken. adj. Deprived of virility, strength, or vigor. and customer choice in local service will be eliminated as the result of special-interest legislation passed today by the Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada. The Senate consists of 21 members from 19 constituencies (two are multimember), with each Senator representing a population of around 94,700 inhabitants (2000 figures). at the request of the state's two local phone monopolies. "It may be the day after Easter, but it must feel like Christmas for SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. and Sprint," said Christine A. Milburn, Nevada coordinator for citizen advocacy group Consumers' Voice. "These companies got everything on their special interest wish list while consumers are left with a lump of coal." Nevada consumer groups and the AARP AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization dedicated to "enriching the experience of aging"; membership is open to people age 50 or older. Founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus as American Association of Retired Persons, AARP now has over 30 million opposed the bill, which would directly and indirectly remove existing consumer protections, and ultimately raise prices by removing rate payer protections and making it more difficult for competitive phone providers to serve Nevada. "The Senate turned a deaf ear to consumer concerns," Milburn said, noting that all consumer-friendly amendments were rejected. "Now, the battle turns to the Assembly, and we hope to find a balanced forum for consumers there." Consumers' Voice Executive Director Robert K. Johnson noted that Nevada is in danger of becoming the first state this year to embrace such monopoly-led deregulatory legislation, as similar bills have been introduced in a number of states. "Legislatures across the nation have rejected this proposal as anti-consumer and anti-competition. Nevada is at risk of selling out its telecommunications Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance. See communications. future to these special interests," Johnson said. |
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