Today's Regulatory Mix: Florida Competition Report Shows Customers Choosing New Services, Hawaii  Further Extends Prohibition On Disconnects/Late Fees During COVID-1,Washington Governor Prohibits Residential Disconnections During COVID-19

Florida Competition Report Shows Customers Choosing New Services

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) announced the results of its annual Report on the Status of Competition in the Telecommunications Industry.

“Affordability and service reliability are essential in a competitive market, and Florida consumers have found both in the services they’re choosing,” said PSC Chairman Gary Clark.  “Consumers continue to benefit as technology evolves, and telecommunications companies are gearing up for some big technological advancements, enhancing the customer experience and propelling Florida’s economic growth.”

The 2020 report shows consumers continue to move from landline telephone service to wireless and cable/Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.  The data also indicates that residential migration to wireless technologies continues, while business customers are still migrating to VoIP services in large numbers.  Carriers reported approximately 1.6 million total wireline access lines in Florida for 2019, about 15.7 percent fewer than in 2018.

For the ninth year in a row, the total number of business landlines exceeded residential   landlines, although both experienced significant drops in 2019.  Residential landlines declined 12.6 percent, while business landlines declined 17.5 percent.

As in past years, wireless, VoIP and broadband drove the telecommunications markets in 2019.  According to the most recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) data, there are an estimated 21.8 million wireless subscriptions in Florida and more than 4.5 million VoIP connections.  The FCC also reported a 71 percent subscription rate of 25Mbps or greater fixed broadband connections in Florida in 2017.  Cable modem services accounted for roughly 5 million of non-mobile broadband connections in Florida, while mobile broadband connections accounted for almost 20 million Florida connections.

Delivered to the Florida Legislature by August 1 each year, the PSC report compiled data from Florida telecommunications companies for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2019.

Hawaii Further Extends Prohibition On Disconnects/Late Fees During COVID-19

The Public Utilities Commission of Hawaii (PUC) has extended, until August 31, 2020, its order prohibiting disconnections and other COVID-19 related consumer protections. Specifically, the Order continues: (1) the prohibition on disconnecting customers for nonpayment (but not due to public safety concerns unrelated to non-payment); and (2) the suspension of any and all rules and provisions of individual utility tariffs that prevent or condition reconnection of disconnected customers. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 8/4/2020.

Washington Governor Prohibits Residential Disconnections During COVID-19

The Governor of Washington has issued a proclamation that among other things, prohibits telecommunications providers from disconnecting residential customers during COVID-19.  The proclamation prohibits all telecommunications providers in Washington State from conducting the following activities:(1)disconnecting any residential customers from telecommunications due to nonpayment on an active account, except at the request of the customer; (2)refusing to reconnect any residential customer who has been disconnected due to nonpayment;(3)charging fees for late payment or reconnection of telecommunications service; and(4)disconnecting service to any residential customer who has contacted the utility  assistance from the utility’s COVID-19 Customer Support Program. Inteserra Briefing Service subscribers see Briefing dated 8/4/2020.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.