Who Ya Gonna Call?  CUB!

The world of telecommunications is wild and woolly. Consumers trying to figure out what phone to purchase, what services to use, and what the cost all comes down to are pretty much on their own to sort through and comprehend competing offers, confusing and complex price plans, and a bunch of technical gibberish that means little to the average person.

Now, compare that to a trip to the supermarket. There, things like unit pricing and ingredient labels can help us make apples-to-apples comparisons among products, which we can use to make informed choices about what we purchase. So, what would it take to bring some of that clarity and sanity to the telecommunications market, you might ask?

CUB has been working on just that issue, and we’re getting ready to take some big steps toward bringing a little order to the telecom chaos. How? We’re launching the Oregon Telecommunications Consumer Information Center! (And yes, we realize that’s not a very catchy name – more on that later.)

First, let’s take a quick look back at how all of this came about.

Back in 2008, Qwest applied to the Oregon Public Utility Commission to implement what we called “a radical plan” to deregulate a broad range of telecommunications services. This came right after CUB and other consumer groups had beaten back a similar proposal in the 2007 Oregon legislature!  Our analysis of Qwest’s proposal showed that basic residential service would increase by more than 15%, and other services would go up even more. Needless to say, we weren’t happy!

CUB took the bull by the horns and sat down at the table with Qwest and the PUC staff to negotiate. Finally, after a series of workshops and negotiations, we reached a settlement. CUB had gone into those talks with three goals: 1) protect basic local service with no price increase; 2) protect unlisted numbers and a handful of other features which may be essential for safety reasons or financial hardship; and 3) help customers negotiate the maze of telecom pricing. Our settlement met all of those goals, and we encourage you to read the details for yourself.

The last goal – helping consumers navigate the maze of telecom pricing – is the topic here.

As part of the settlement, Qwest agreed to provide funding for an independent organization to provide comparative pricing information on a broad range of telecommunications services. Everyone involved in the negotiations, including CUB, assumed that a university or some other public or nonprofit entity would be recruited to create and manage such a service.

By Summer 2009, despite several attempts to recruit such an entity, no organization had stepped up to the plate. It was suggested to CUB that if it was truly important to CUB that the center be started, CUB should look at whether it could manage the project itself.

Not wanting to let such an invaluable opportunity to protect consumers disappear, CUB did just that. We developed a draft proposal and began extended discussions with both the PUC staff and Qwest. This led to an agreement by all to have CUB take on the project, and the PUC Commissioners agreed at their regular public meeting this week.

The Oregon Telecommunication Consumer Information Center will consist of an interactive website where consumers can get information about products, services and pricing. Users will be able to compare all of those options across various companies. Later we will add an information hotline to the OTCIC where consumers can call and get information from… an actual person! (Because we hate automated recordings just as much as you do.)

We are also looking at the possibility of sponsoring several community-based workshops to bring the same information to towns and cities, across Oregon.

So, when will all this be happening?  We’re off and running. As we noted earlier, the Commission acknowledged the plan this week, and our lawyer began drafting a Request For Proposals for help designing the website. We hope to have the website up and operating by sometime this fall. The hotline will open a few months after that, and if there is a demand, the community workshops will start a few months later.

Now, lastly, about that name. The “Oregon Telecommunications Consumer Information Center” (OTCIC) – well, it’s a tad unwieldy, even bland and worst of all probably very forgettable. OK, it’s boring! So we need your help.

What should we call this new creation? What would be a catchy name (and acronym) that would be memorable (and make a good domain name)? Please send us your suggestions ASAP. And thank you for your continued support. We hope that you will find the website and hotline to be very useful for you, your family and your business.

Stay tuned for lots more news as this project develops.

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