Over the past two decades, the world of telecommunications has changed radically. Today, residential consumers -- especially low-income and small-volume consumers -- are left to fend for themselves when purchasing deregulated telecommunications services. No longer does “Ma Bell” provide telephone equipment, local access, and long-distance services to the vast majority of Americans. Instead, a bewildering array of companies provide equipment, local access, toll call and long-distance service, cellular telephones and service, pre-paid phone cards, DSL, Internet access, and other products and services. Most consumers cannot begin to decipher their multi-page monthly bills, and virtually no one, not even a skilled advocate, fully understands the myriad terms, prices, and conditions buried in regulatory documents filed by telecommunications companies.
NCLC Special Reports and Press Releases
PowerPoint: NLIEC 2004: A Lifeline for Telephone Customers (PDF 92KB)
Policy Analysis
Initial Comments on the Federal-State Joint Board Recommended Decision (Comprehensive Reform Of The USF High Cost Program) by the National Consumer Law Center, on Behalf Of Texas Legal Services Center And Edgemont Neighborhood Coalition, Represented by Advocates For Basic Legal Equality, April 2008
NCLC and TLSC Comments to the FCC on Lifeline to Refresh the Record, August 2007
Reply Comments of the National Consumer Law Center regarding the billing and termination practices of telecommunications carriers, July 10, 2006 (PDF 157KB)
Initial Comments of the
National Consumer Law Center regarding the billing and termination practices of telecommunications carriers, June 8, 2006 (PDF 166KB)
Comments of NCLC and AARP on the California Public Utility Commission Staff Report on Public Policy Programs, April, 2006 (PDF 39KB)
Comments: of NCLC on Proposal of Verizon to Impose a Late Charge on Residential Customers, DTE 06-26, March 29, 2006 (PDF 32KB)
Comments: regarding FCC Consumer Protections in the Broadband Era, January 17, 2006.
