Two Public Hearings Planned on Verizon Change

State regulators will hold two public hearings in Southern California on Thursday to hear reaction to a plan by Verizon Select Services to pull the plug on its OneSource all-in-one phone service package. The move would affect about 200,000 business and residential customers in California. Since December, Verizon has been pushing its OneSource customers to switch to alternative phone carriers, telling them that if they fail to change providers by today, their local and long-distance phone service could be disrupted or automatically switched for them. However, Verizon cannot make those changes unless the plan is approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, which has yet to rule on the matter. PUC officials scheduled the public hearings to discuss the proposal before issuing a ruling. The hearings will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles at the Hall of Administration, Board of Supervisors Chamber, 500 W. Temple, Room 381-B, and at 7 p.m. in San Bernardino at the City Council chambers, 300 North D St.