Information Disconnect on Motives
Many Californians recently got a letter from a group calling itself Project Connect California. The letter laments the confusing array of telecommunications companies and regulations and promises to help.
“We want to help you not only understand what’s happening in the telecommunications industry, but also have a voice in it,” the letter reads. “We don’t want you to be intimidated by telecommunications. PCCa wants to help you navigate the ever-changing telecommunications landscape, and to give you a voice in how the industry develops.”
Sounds like a good idea. But don’t be fooled into thinking Project Connect is devoted to your interests.
The group describes itself as a statewide coalition that includes “Pacific Bell, the Communications Workers of America, concerned citizens, community leaders, small businesses and consumer organizations with long-standing ties to California and its communities.” In reality, Project Connect is funded by SBC Communications, PacBell’s parent company, and its primary mission is to drum up support for regulatory proposals that could direct millions of dollars to the company.
A quick tour of the group’s Web site at https://www.projectconnectcalifornia.org gives the company away. The organization says it focuses on bridging the digital divide, advancing competition, broadband deployment, legislative and regulatory policy on telecom, technology in schools and universal service.
But when it gets down to specifics, Project Connect lists two main issues: competition in California and PacBell’s long-distance business. In both instances, the group tries to make the case that PacBell faces competition in its local phone market and thus should be granted permission to sell long-distance service in California--a move it implies would bring consumers lower prices and more choices for long-distance.
Site visitors get a list of news stories highlighting PacBell charitable grants, complaints and lawsuits involving long-distance companies, PacBell’s efforts to clamp down on fraudulent billings and the phone company’s extraordinary efforts to fix fire-damaged phone lines.
The list omits mention that PacBell faces potentially record fines and penalties from state regulators--as much as $49 million--stemming from findings that its sales methods and selective disclosures were misleading to California phone customers.
The company’s lobbying campaign already is bearing fruit. For months, letters supporting PacBell’s long-distance application have been streaming into the state Public Utilities Commission from nearly every chamber of commerce in the state.
Despite the fact scores, if not hundreds, of long-distance companies already compete in California, the chamber leaders’ letters suggest that PacBell’s presence in that market is urgently needed for the good of consumers and the state economy.
Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with drumming up a little public support for a cause. But consumers should not be misled about Project Connect’s true motives.
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Times staff writer Elizabeth Douglass covers telecommunications.
