ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996               TAG: 9603060054
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER

VA. BILL WOULD ADOPT FCC BAN

Virginia law has never contained any prohibition against "slamming," the unauthorized changing of a consumer's long-distance carrier, although that may soon change.

Last year the State Corporation Commission received about 160 complaints from residents about unauthorized changes in their long-distance service, according to Andrea Leeman, an SCC spokeswoman. Not all of the complaints turned out to be justified, she said.

One gimmick being used by some long-distance wholesalers, Leeman said, is a sweepstakes mailing. When signed and returned by a telephone customer, the entry contains an authorization - in fine print - for the wholesaler to change the customer's long-distance carrier.

"People really need to start reading," Leeman said. "People need to be really careful about what they sign.

The Virginia corporation commission lets local phone-service providers collect a $40.05 fee from a long-distance carrier for each customer whose service is changed without authorization, Leeman said. The charge is to cover the cost of switching the customer's service back to the authorized carrier.

But a bill sponsored by Sen. Jane Woods, R-Fairfax, would incorporate into state law the Federal Communications Commission's prohibition against slamming.

The bill, which has passed both houses of the General Assembly and awaits Gov. George Allen's signature, prevents a local phone company from changing a customer's long-distance carrier without first having received one of the following:

Express authorization directly from the customer.

A statement from the long-distance carrier that it has the customer's written permission.

A letter of authorization from the customer.

A spokesman for Woods said she introduced the bill after having received several complaints, particularly from elderly people, in her Northern Virginia district.

LENGTH: Short :   45 lines
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996