PUC to Closely Monitor Pay Phone Firms

Citing complaints that some customers are being overcharged by private pay-phone companies, the California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday moved to more closely monitor the newly competitive business.

Not all the complaints came from customers, however, the PUC said. Many owners of pay phones have charged Pacific Bell with anticompetitive practices, it said. PacBell not only owns thousands of pay phones but must provide local connections for its pay-phone competitors.

Competition was allowed into the former monopoly only in 1984, when the Federal Communications Commission ordered local phone companies to hook up privately owned pay phones to their networks. The PUC followed up on the federal order in 1985, but retained authority to set the ground rules for providing pay-phone service within the state.

In a related action, the PUC moved to more carefully regulate companies that offer so-called alternate operator services, which handle credit card calls for hotels, motels and other major owners of pay phones. The commission wants the companies to apply for certification and to file their rates within 60 days. The action came in response to complaints of excessive charges added to bills for credit card and other non-coin calls made over pay telephones.

Separately, the PUC trimmed Pacific Bell’s 1988 estimated revenue by $64.9 million after correcting and adjusting the company’s estimated operating costs for the year. Customers will not see the decrease--a matter of pennies per customer--until after the commission completes its pending overhaul of all PacBell rates, however.