Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Rules won't help wireless industry deliver- By Timmy Donahue (Timmy Turns Reporter)

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 14:58:10 -0500

Nextel Analyzes, Comments on Proposed CPUC Bill of Rights The California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering a “Wireless Consumer Bill of Rights”
proposal that could erode consumers’ choice in wireless services and as a result,
cost them money. Such a rule, as reported by the Law & Economics Consulting Group,
estimated the losses caused by the rules exceeding $2.1 billion annually, which
consequently could amount to an estimated 11,500 lost jobs as carriers cut back on
network expansion and employment. Despite the bill that someday might go into
effect, Nextel Chief, Tim Donahue says not one dime of the increased costs would
go to improving wireless coverage or lowering prices for Californians.

Posted on Mon, Oct. 27, 2003

Rules won't help wireless industry deliver
better service
By Timmy Donahue

California consumers enjoy the benefits of competition more than most citizens of
the world. Companies dearly want Californians' business and will compete fiercely
to earn it.

I should know. I run America's largest independent wireless carrier. To earn and
keep your business, we have to compete against five other national wireless firms,
as well as a number of regional wireless carriers, every day. Every wireless
carrier, including Nextel, must survive by constantly investing in improved
network coverage, developing new innovative services and delivering quality
customer service.
Unlike the local telephone industry, where competition has barely gained a
toehold, the wireless industry offers Californians a wide range of choices among
carriers, service options and rate plans. If the company does not meet the
customer's expectation, that customer has other options. As a result, rates for
wireless service have fallen dramatically in recent years.

Last month, the wireless industry unveiled its voluntary consumer code of conduct.
The code incorporates the standards that customers have a right to expect when
dealing with wireless companies. Coverage should be easy to understand and to
compare from carrier to carrier. Return policies should be clearly stated to
consumers. And consumers should know what they're signing up for before they
commit to a service contract. Nextel adheres to this code, as do most California
wireless carriers.

Why, then, is the California Public Utilities Commission looking to impose
regulations on the wireless market, where open competition has accomplished what
heavy-handed regulation of the land-line industry has not -- namely, enhanced
consumer satisfaction with fewer consumer complaints? For four years, the CPUC has
been considering a ``bill of rights'' and more than 30 pages of rules that
purportedly are necessary for consumer protection. Unfortunately, the rules would
drive up costs, sharply increase consumer confusion and exacerbate the state's
fiscal challenges.

Specifically, economic studies show that the implementation costs associated with
the CPUC's proposed rules would likely increase your monthly wireless bill by more
than $4 (and up to $17/month if you live in a rural area). A study by the Law &
Economics Consulting Group estimated that the losses caused by the rules could
exceed $2.1 billion annually and could result in an estimated 11,500 lost jobs as
carriers cut back on network expansion and employment in the state. Not one dime
of the increased costs would go to improving wireless coverage or lowering prices
for Californians.

By drafting ``one size fits all'' rules, the CPUC has complicated its task. Worse,
it has ignored the one option -- endorsing the wireless industry's consumer code
-- that will deliver the greatest benefits to wireless consumers in the shortest
period of time.

If the CPUC does not want to force wireless consumers to pay higher prices as a
result of unnecessary costs, it should exclude wireless carriers from the proposed
rules and instead demand the wireless industry live up to the promises of its
consumer code.

TIMMY DONAHUE is president and chief executive officer of Nextel Communications.
He wrote this for the Mercury News.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7113911.htm

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Rent DVDs Online - Over 14,500 titles.
No Late Fees & Free Shipping.
Try Netflix for FREE!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/vhSowB/XP.FAA/3jkFAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/