Price rises for toll-free plan in Oklahoma

The estimated cost for a proposed toll-free statewide calling plan has doubled — to more than $3 a month — but regulators insist the plan is vital to maintain telecommunications services in rural areas of Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s public utility division staff contends the calling plan would require telephone companies to continue investing in infrastructure to serve rural communities. It also would ensure the continued availability of affordable telecommunications services, according to supplemental economic analysis filed Monday.

Regulations designed to ensure such service are losing strength as more people abandon their landline telephones, the report states. Oklahoma leads the country in customers that have "cut the cord,” opting to replace their home phones with wireless phones.

The statewide toll-free calling plan would add a monthly charge to each of Oklahoma’s 7 million-plus assessable telephone numbers to make up for the money telephone providers would lose if long-distance charges are eliminated on in-state calls.

The charge for the toll-free plan would be applied to landlines, wireless phone subscribers and those who use voice over Internet protocol.

"Commission staff is attempting (to devise) a plan that is revenue neutral, technologically neutral and competitively neutral,” according to the commission report.

Regulators estimate the plan would cost about $270 million a year during an unspecified transition period, meaning it would add $3.19 cents a month to each of those 7 million telephone bills.

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