THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180443
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The Virginia Attorney General's office is moving to overturn a State Corporation Commission decision last month that would remove profit limits on local phone companies in the state.
The attorney general filed a notice of appeal Thursday with the Virginia Supreme Court. Also planning to appeal are the American Association of Retired Persons, the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council and MCI Communications Corp.
The Attorney General's office, consumer groups and MCI have said that the commission's decision will short-change consumers and stifle competition for phone services in the state.
Paul Miller, a Bell Atlantic spokesman, said that his company is disappointed with the planned appeals, particularly that of Attorney General James Gilmore, which he called ``a waste of taxpayers' dollars.''
Miller said the commission's decision was ``an excellent order, not only for us, but for all Virginians.''
On Oct. 18, in a 2-1 order, the commission offered to abandon its traditional form of regulating profits of Bell Atlantic-Virginia and two other of the state's big local phone companies.
However, a condition of the decision was that the phone companies must agree to freeze their basic rates - in the case of Bell Atlantic, the state's largest local phone company - through 2000.
The citizens council and AARP said that a rate freeze isn't nearly as good as it appears. They say that prices for local phone services should be cut and that the commission is skirting a state law by not holding a full investigation of the rates.
William Bilenky, a Richmond attorney for the consumer groups, said that the commission's decision is also flawed because it lifts profit restrictions on the phone companies - while still maintaining their monopolies on local services.
Consumer groups, long-distance carriers and cable-TV companies have pledged to lobby the General Assembly in January to break down competitive barriers in state laws and regulations.
MCI, a long-distance carrier, is among those wanting to compete with Bell Atlantic and Virginia's other local phone companies in the local phone business. by CNB