The feed for this streaming event.
(music playing)
Welcome to the, the California Public Utilities Commission
of Participation Hearing. On the CPUC's Order Instituting
Rulemaking Proceeding. To consider amendments to the
General Order 133D. On this day, Tuesday, April 18,
2023. Judge uh Glegola, you may begin.
Thank you so much. Could our court recorders, please
confirm that you can hear me and that you're ready?
I can hear you and I'm ready.
Thank you very much. And Commissioner Houck, can we uh test
your line real quick?
Uh, this is Jacob from IT. I don't believe that, uh
Commissioner Houck has um, joined us yet on the call. Hi, can you hear me? That's
what it looks like. Yes, we can hear you Commissioner.
Okay, so I can't hear the um, but anyone else. That's
you, you? Can you hear me Commissioner? I can hear you,
yes. Okay, okay. You, you'll hear
everyone else then. Um. Okay, sorry. I apologize. Great,
thank you. No, no worries. So okay. With that, we will
now be on the record. The Commission will come to order.
Good afternoon, everyone. This is the time and place
set for a Public Participation Hearing on the California
Public Utilities Commissions Telecommunications Service
Quality Proceeding. This is Rulemaking 22-03-016.
I'm Thomas Glegola, the assigned Administrative Law Judge for
this proceeding. We are also joined by the Honorable
Darcie Houck, who is the assigned Commissioner for this
proceeding. To those listening on the phone that wish
to speak or if you're watching us on uh, the uh web
uh, uh website video feed. Um please uh, call in and
press *1 on your phone, to be placed in line. After
pressing *1, you will be prompted for your name.
Please also add if you are an elected official. You
may decide at any time, before we end the form today
to speak simply by pressing *1. If you are, uh
calling into our conference line. The purpose of today's
hearing is to hear directly from the public about their
phone service. This includes what many refer to as
plain old telephone service, also called POTS. As well
as newer phone service delivered using voice over the
internet protocol, also called VoIP. As well as cell
phone service. We specially wanna hear about service
outages that you've encountered, as well as any lengthy
service delays when you submit customer service tickets
to your telephone provider.
If you have a billing question, please go to the following
website: www.cpuc.ca
.gov/pph. You will find more
information there on this proceeding. As well as phone
numbers to reach a customer service representative
for your company, at this time.
The Public Utilities Commission currently regulates
service quality standards for plain old telephone service.
These standards are contained in General Order 133,
which you can find on the Commission's website. Due
to changes in our jurisdiction as well as a petition
from the Commission's Public Advocate's Office. The
Commission is reviewing the service quality standards
for plain old telephone service. And also is considering
adopting new rules for other phone services. In Phase
2 of this proceeding, the Commission will consider
service quality for internet service. More information
is available on the commission's website at www.
cpuc.ca.gov/pph
This includes summaries of the positions of the
telecommunications service providers in California.
As well as organizations representing consumers. The
Public Utilities Commission has 5 Commissioners
who are appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by
the State Senate. This includes Commissioner Houck. My responsibility
as a Judge is to manage the day-to-day activities of
the case. And to help Commissioner Houck evaluate all
of the evidence in the proceeding including your input.
Commissioner Houck will issue a proposed decision for the
other Commissioners to consider. The 5 Commissioners
are ultimately the ones who will decide and vote on
whether or not to prove. Excuse me. To, to approve any
proposed changes to existing rules or new rules. Each
piece of information on which we base, our decision
is listed and available for you to review on the
Commission's website. Uh, at a specific page we call
the docket card. Your comments today will also be listed
and published on the docket card. Because our court
reporters are transcribing today's hearing, taking
down everything that is said. I thank you so much for
spending your time with us today. To share your experiences
as customers, your perspectives or perhaps just a listen.
The Commissioner and I will be paying close attention
to what you say. We've received significant public
interest in this proceeding, which likely means that
you won't have to wait before speaking. So I will thank
you for your patience. Today is not the only opportunity
for you to tell us
how this proceeding will affect you. Throughout the
proceeding we will uh, accept written public comments
through a form on our website. It's the public comments
section of the docket card. To access the docket card
again, go to the Commission's website. And in particular
www.cpuc.ca.
gov/pph. As of today, we have received almost
2,700 written public comments. This form is being conducted
remotely, because we have found remote hearings to be
a very convenient and effective way for us to engage
with members of the public. Especially on issues like
this that affect all parts of the state. Again, we
are very appreciative that you've joined us today.
Now, we will hear from Commissioner Houck. The floor is yours Commissioner.
Thank you, Judge Glegola. Um, good afternoon everyone. Again,
My name is Darcie Houck. I'm the assigned Commissioner for the service,
the Service Quality um, Rulemaking that. Um, we're
here to, to hear from you on today. I'd like to thank
Judge Glegola, the Public Adviser's Office. Um, for all of their
work and um preparing for and hosting today's Public
Participation Hearing. Um, I specially want to acknowledge
Joyce Fox, Alison Brown and Kim Mona Dzvova
and Claudia Sanchez. I also wanna thank our court reporters
um Jason Stacy and Doris Humun and Ashley Button. And our IT
Staff, Robert Stanford and Joseph Haga. We could not work,
um and hold these hearings without their support. Um,
I'd also like to thank all of you for taking the time
out of your day to provide your comments on this important
matter. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you
the public. Before we make any decisions in Phase 1
of the proceeding. This proceeding as the Judge indicated
um is to evaluate our current service quality standards.
That are set out in General Order 133D and we'll set
new service standards for communication providers as
appropriate. Including examining wireless and voice
services. In Phase 2 of the proceeding, we will consider
service quality standards for internet service. And
as the Judge indicated, um to-date. We have received
2,789 written comments in our docket and we had over
250 people, uh provide comment in the prior uh Public
Participation Hearings held in the proceeding. Given
the um and, and so. That is um, extensive turnout and
we know that you're very um concerned and interested
in this topic. Um given the conditions of modern life
it's critically important that customers receive reliable
telecommunication services. Which um, include plain old
telephone service service or what's referred to as
POTS, wireless, voice and broadband. Communication services
are essential services. As more and more, Californians
are relying on these technologies for work, school,
medical services to stay connected with one another
and to contact emergency services providers. The purpose
again of today's um, hearing is to hear from you about
the quality of services that you're receiving from
your providers. And with that, I'm gonna end my comments
here. To ensure we have as much time as possible to
hear from you the public. Um, I look forward to hearing
your comments um today. And we'll also assure you that
there is a transcript being prepared of today's hearing.
And both the Judge and I will have that available and
we'll be able to review that. Um, to ensure that, that
the comments are considered. And so with that, I wanna
thank everyone again and we'll turn back to Judge Glegola.
Thank you, Commissioner Houck. We will now turn to the public.
If you wish to speak and have not already done so.
Please press *1 on your phone now and the operator
will add you to the queue of speakers. You may decide
at any time before we end this form at 4:30 to
speak. Simply by uh, pressing *1. If you do speak,
please remember to speak slowly and clearly. So that
our court reporter is able to capture everything you
say. We ask that you state and spell your name. And
if you'd like the city where you were calling from.
To help ensure that we hear from everyone, each speaker
will have a time limit of one minute. A chime will
sound when you have 15 seconds left. Please wrap up
shortly after that. I sincerely apologize for this
abrupt deadline. I hope you understand the reason is
to hear from as many people as possible. Additionally
um, please know that we will be stopping at 4:30. We
will take a break then and start the next prehearing
conference at 6pm tonight.
Also, if you are disconnected from your call, before
I am able to thank you. Please know that just how much
uh I, and Commissioner Houck appreciate you taking the time
today. To share your experiences as telecommunications
customers with us. Again, we will be able to hear you
best if you speak slowly and clearly, and speak directly
into your phone or headset. It is best not to use a
speakerphone.
And also finally, if you are listening to this hearing
using our live video feed. Please remember to mute
the speakers for that feed when you are speaking to
us by telephone. With that, could our operator please
proceed with the first speaker in the queue?
Thank you, sir. The uh, public line is now open. Our
first speaker is uh, Fiji Adami. Fiji Adami Vecur,
yes.
Thank you.
Okay, I'm a teacher. And in 2022 January, I got a new
phone and switched to Verizon. They gave me a new phone.
I pay a lot of money and the contract that I pay
again with teacher discount and all of these. I pay
$76, that they told me $60. That's not important. The
most important part, that I don't have a connection.
And when I called them, they said oh, this area it
doesn't work 5G. And the other one is not working.
So I said I live in this area, and then I said
okay, how about my school? I don't have connection in
my oh, it's the same area. We don't have a connection
there. So, what is the purpose of having phone?
Hello.
Uh did we, Judge Glegola? Or did we lose your audio?
No I'm, I'm here.
Hello.
I think we may be having some technical difficulties.
Hold on. Um, one moment.
Hello.
Yes. Uh, please stand by we may be having to difficulties. That's okay.
Okay.
Hello, this is Judge Glegola. Um, um my phone dropped off. Are we um,
can other folks hear me?
I hear you.
Thank you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry, ma'am for, for
that. Um, could you please uh, um continue with uh, with
your comments? Yes. So I, if I wanna switch to another
company. I have to pay penalty for the rest of the
uh, the end of 2004. So I'm paying $75 a month and
not having service. Because I have a contract for 2
years with Verizon. And Verizon doesn't give me a service.
Because at the time I really it, it's emergency and
I need to make a call. I don't have a service. So
that's the only thing I am calling. That they, and on
and on. I went to the uh, um, the Verizon. And they
say oh, we can't do anything. If you wanna switch,
you have to pay the penalty. But I said the reason
I wanna switch. Because I don't have a service in my
area. I don't have a service in my work area. So what
should I do? Is it fair that I pay more than $15
uh, altogether is uh. I pay $600 and my new phone
uh, iPhone 12. And, uh the phone uh, iPhone 13 and
I pay a lot of money. They lie about everything. They
told me with teacher discount, you get $60 a month.
And Verizon credit card, I have Verizon credit card.
And I submit my teacher um credential, but still I
pay $75. But even this is not important as much as
I need my phone. I need to have a service and this
is really uh I cannot believe that the company like
Verizon. They wanna take advantage of the people like
me. This is why I got. Ma'am. Ma'am, thank you so much for
calling in. Yes, I got the off from work to talk to
you guys people. And let you know what's happening.
Thank you so much, ma'am. We, we really appreciate
your, your calling in. Operator, could you please uh
bring the next uh, caller up?
Thank you. Our next speaker is Greg Hamilton, your
line is open. Thank you. Hi, this is Greg Hamilton,
H. A. M. I. L. T. O. N. My comments will be relating to
AT&T cell service. I live in Castro Valley, California.
Castro Valley, California is Columbia Housing Division,
which includes about 500 homes. For at least the Northern
2/3 of the Columbia Division. There is at best
poor and much of the time nonexistent AT&T cell
service. I have found that all AT&T customers in
the Columbia Division that I have spoken to. Have poor
to nonexistent service. I use AT&T's Mark the
Spot mobile app. To report multiple dropped calls, multiple
failures to connect, etcetera. Nobody has done anything.
I called AT&T's customer service and was told and
I quote, "it is not a priority for AT&T to
fix the issue." We in the Columbia Division would greatly
appreciate receiving reasonable service. Thank you
for listening.
Thank you for your time today, sir.
We have our next caller, please Operator. Yes, our
next call comes from Solomon. Your line's open.
Hi, yes. My name is Solomon Oseunde. Um yeah, my
calls about my cell phone service. My service is I,
I could speak the same as what everyone said before
me so far. It is terrible, it's opposite of reliable.
Um, calls drop all the time. They dropped on 2 calls
today, that were very long, very important calls. Me
on, me on hold had to recycle in the queue. But just
to say that, what I pay for my service versus the service
that I get is ridiculous. The gap in that I would say.
Because
is, you know, a regular call. Like right, like right
I don't know if you guys can hear me properly.
You know that's how, that's how bad it is. So I would
just like for some improvement, it's happened for two
years. I had a, a phone. Um you guys, I spoke with
about 400 different representatives at AT&T. Who tried
to troubleshoot and do a bunch of things. They said,
uh we've done everything we can. Uh then I, they told
me to get a new phone. I got a new phone. The
new phone, the exact same thing. So, it's not the phone.
But now I have a new phone that doesn't work. Um and
that's, I hope you guys can do something about it.
Make something right here. Because I, I don't like paying
for my phone, when it doesn't work, so.
Thank you so much for, for calling in today. We, we
very much appreciate your time. That's why we're
here. Operator, would you mind? I understand that we
have someone waiting on the Spanish language, uh line.
Would you mind transferring to that one? Uh yes, sir.
One moment.
(silence)
Our next speaker comes from uh, Francisco.
Your, your line is now open.
Yeah.
Yes. My name is Francisco Navarro and I'm calling in
because I'm having difficulties.
And I'm having a lot of problems with my phone also.
I have a T-Mobile or Simple Mobile.
I also made a phone call to the Department of Employment.
I, I ended up receiving a phone call or making a phone
call and ended up cutting out.
I've already reported this on several occasions and
I think that I'm going to have to change companies.
I think that, that would be all for today or I don't
know if there's any other question.
Is, is that it from our caller?
Okay. Well, and thank you so much.
So with that, then I thank the caller for calling
in. And Operator, could you please move to our, um
our next uh, person uh waiting in the queue? Thank you,
sir.
Our next caller is uh, Khaled Wu. Your line is open.
Good afternoon uh, Honorable Judge and also Commission.
Um, my name is Alex Wu. My office is in Arcadia, California.
My home is in El Monte, California. I'm using AT&T.
One, AT&T is running a wrong since uh, systematic business
model. Two, the company just protect their own interest
and they don't care anything to make sure a favorable
outcome. Whatever issue has come up with that service.
Three, that is proven that AT&T is using a toll free
number system. That would discourage the customer.
Four, 5G system is very slow. 10 minutes for one picture
Management, uh 5G is not expect, reach your expectation.
The phone tech system is nothing, low tech. Just repeat
the same step. Advanced tech, it says promise follow
up. Complaints say, no such problem. Commissioner, please
turn it around. Thank you.
Thank you for your time today. Could we have our
next caller, please.
Our next caller,
our next caller is Dell Mason. Your line is open.
Oh, thank you. Uh, okay. It sounds like I'm hearing
somebody busy signal.
Hello.
Please continue. Your line is open.
Oh, hello. Hello, please continue sir. Oh, okay. I'm
sorry. Um, uh. My name is uh, Mel Mason. I'm a resident of
Seaside, California. Uh, which is uh one of the communities
that has quality of service issues and it certainly
impacted by the digital divide. Um my question is,
is uh, uh why is the Commission focusing on old landline
technology? I think most of the problems people
talk about with their old landlines. Would be solved
if everyone had access to broadband. And I would ask
that the broadband funds be released. As a means of
building out the network. I believe that, that needs
to be done as a major means of closing the digital
divide and increasing uh quality of service. Thank
you for your time.
Thank you for calling in today, sir.
Operator, could we please, uh proceed with the next
caller? Our next public comment comes from Barry White.
Your line is open.
Hello. Hello, could you please continue, sir? Yes.
Thank you. I'm Barry Waite, I'm the President of the
Carson Chamber of Commerce and thank you for your time.
I'll try to be brief. Um, so we have no service complaints
from our hundreds of members. Um, any issues that we've
had have been resolved in a timely fashion. Um, so we're
concerned that the quality metrics that are being proposed
are not appropriate for the modern era. And we wanna
make sure that we're not using metrics from 1975. So
uh, we're working with the providers of the city, and
our council of governments. To expand broadband to unserved
areas of the community. And we're making good progress
on that. And we wanna make sure that, that is the focus.
So with that, I thank you very much for your time and
have a good day.
Thank, thank you and likewise, sir.
Can we please have our next caller, Operator. Our next public
comment comes from Natalie Vost, your line is open. Good afternoon.
My name is Natalie Vost and I'm calling in on behalf of
the California Business Roundtable. We are a nonpartisan
organization that is comprised of senior executives
across the state. Um, and I'm calling to speak on the
positive impacts of mobile telecommunications. Uh, so
small businesses are relying on emerging platforms.
Which are enabled by apps and connecting with customers
through wireless technologies. This is creating new
job opportunities and improvements for many businesses
based in California. These wireless networks have evolved
and only improved over the past decade. Because of permissionless
innovation and some top down, utility style
regulations. It's necessary to enable innovators and
entrepreneurs. To offer their best and not hold them
back from competing in the marketplace. Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today. Operator, could we have
our next public commenter? Our next public comment comes from
Leticia Jordan. Your line is open.
Good afternoon. Um, I am calling regarding an issue
um with Verizon. We've been customers for over 15 years
and they approached us to consolidate into a business
line. Um an, an error made at the store caused.
Um, it triggered some kind of warning and instead of
talking to us about it. They discontinued, they disconnected
all six of our lines with no warning. And then they
reported all of the devices stolen, which is fraud.
So when we tried to go to a, a different carrier. We
weren't even able to do that. And since we, they we
didn't do the upsale at Verizon. We had to end up
buying 6 or $7000 worth of new phones. Um we paid
for years, no problems with billing. We wanna know
what the issue is and why this fraud was committed.
And they told us they don't have to give us any reason.
We need transparency and we need accountability.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time today and calling in. Can
we have our next commenter. Our next public comment
comes from Tony Morris. Tony, your line is open.
Yeah, hi. Uh, I'm a Verizon customer. And uh I, a couple
of things I wanna talk about. One is the uh, signal
strength that I'm getting where I live in, uh Southern
California. Uh, but the main thing is uh, uh the
uh tech support. Uh, I've been having problems with
signal strength for quite a while. And each time I,
you know, would get drop outs on my hotspot. I call
tech support to get help. Uh, and each time they promise
me it's gonna be fixed. They have all the right buzzwords
and catch phrases I'm sure they have a list of things
they're supposed to say. In the best broken English
that they can. I understand we're multilingual. But
if you're gonna speak English, speak English so that
I can understand. Because that takes a lot of time too,
to try to understand what they're saying. Uh, bottom
line is. I went through 7 or 8 different tech
support guys. They were supposed to send me a new device,
that they helped break. I went from poor service to
no service because of what they told me to do. I'm
still waiting for a resolution to this, it's been like
a month. And I'm still waiting and they make promises,
after promise, after promise. And they don't keep any
of them. There's no accountability apparently, because
they don't feel they have an obligation. Uh, there's
no pressure put on them to keep their promises, do
what they say and provide quality service. I think
that has to be addressed seriously. Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today. Could we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes from
Brian Neil. Brian, your line is open.
Hi. Can you hear me?
Yes we can, please continue.
Yes, hello. Hi, good afternoon. My name is. Oh, sorry.
Can you hear me? Yes. Yes we can, please continue.
Okay. Uh, my name is Brian Neil and I'm with the South Orange County Economic
Coalition. Just wanted to say thank you for providing
the opportunity to uh, provide public comment. Firstly,
uh we appreciate the Commission's efforts to address
whether the existing standards meet the current needs
of Californians. We believe the best way to do this
is to focus on a path that closes the digital divide
and connects as many people to broadband as possible.
The CPUC, uh still focuses quite extensively on landline
technology, and 1970's era service quality metrics
for copper-based wire services. Uh, while our world
is becoming increasingly reliant on the internet access.
Landlines are for better or for worse, becoming increasingly
obsolete. Yet we're still allocating a significant
portion of our resources to maintain them. Um, thank
you.
Thank you for calling in today. Could we have our next
commenter, please?
Our next public comment comes from Marcus Gomez, your
line is open. Thank you. Hello, my name is Marcus Gomez
living in the Sacramento area. I own a business, where
our employees are on the road around the state. And
it's important to have reliable wire, wireless service
to stay connected along the routes. Some of the routes
go through rural areas with low, lower cellular connected,
connectivity. But because of network improvement and
deployment and new innovative technologies, we have
noticed less drop off and clear communications. Thank
you for your day.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next commenter,
please. Our next public comment comes from Nicole Redbar,
your line is open.
Hi there, good afternoon. Um, my name is Nicole Riddler. I work
with Veterans and low-income patients suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder. Uh, to access resources
uh, for healing and harm reduction. Um, our company partners
with brands and retailers. To create meaningful give
back programs to underserved patients and Veterans in
our communities across the state. Uh, we communicate
with our partners through mobile and telecommunications
services. Uh, to provide access to these and other mental
health resources. Many folks um are also in rural areas.
Our clients connect with us through the same mobile
services to provide, uh product details and patient
education. Um, all provided through these valuable broadband
connections. Um, we have seen continued innovations
to networks that are improving the quality of these
communication services and I appreciate you.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes
from Barry Chen, your line is open.
Barry, your line is open.
Hello?
Hello, please continue.
Uh yes. I, I think they got the name incorrectly. It's
not Barry, it's Wayne Chinn, C. H. I. N. N. And I'm
in San Francisco. I was just wondering about the consumer
protection responsibility, who that falls upon? And who
we contact regarding enforcement, in situations where
you have a contract with the provider. But their equipment
is failing and their service is failing. Um, you know
I, I assume there must be some agency that we can contact
that can rectify this problem.
So thank you for calling in, sir. There's a couple
of things that you can do. One of them is um, uh
calling at our. I'm looking for the, the actual number
right now.
I would call our Public Adviser's Office, and the phone
number for that is 1-866-849-8390.
And so, and that, that's this agency. Let me repeat that to you, 1-866-849-8360.
Is that correct? That's 8390. 8390, yes. That's correct. Um, let me ask
you. Do it, doesn't the provider have some responsibility
for the equipment and the service?
So it depends on the, on the issue, sir. But you, you
probably need to file a complaint and you probably
need. I mean, yeah. So then we are looking at adopting
certain rules for wireless. It sounds like you're talking
about wireless and we don't have those rules yet. Yes, yeah.
You know, they sign you up to a contract and then they
give you a piece of equipment. And the piece of equipment
is faulty or you know they don't take any responsibility
for it. And so, why am I tied into a 2 year
contract, when the equipment doesn't work?
Sir, thank you very much for calling in today. I, I
would encourage you to, um to, to call our Public
Adviser's Office and they can help you file a complaint.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Have a good one. Our next um. Our, our next public
comment comes from Lori Kammerer, your line is open.
Yes, thank you. Good afternoon Chair and Commissioners.
This is Lori Kammerer, L. O. R. I. Excuse me. Last name,
K. A. M like Mary, M like Mary, E. R. E. R. And I'm calling
on behalf of the National Association of Women Business
Owners, California Chapter. And we represent 1.4 uh or
so, um of the California women business, um, women-owned
businesses. Um, our state is best served when women-
owned businesses and startups are thriving. Competing
in the marketplace, creating jobs and opportunities.
While also improving the well being of their customers.
Key to this success is when emerging platforms enable
to buy apps and connecting with customers. Through website.
I'm sorry. Through wireless technologies, connecting
customers through wireless technologies. These wireless
networks have evolved and only improved over the past
decade, because of innovation. We need a regulatory.
Sorry, my voice. We need a regulatory framework that
encourages our innovators and entrepreneurs to compete
and produce the best products and services. Thank you
for hearing my testimony today.
Thank you for calling in. Could we have our next um, our
next commenter, please? Our, our next public comment
comes from Yovanna. I couldn't get a last name. Yovanna, your line
is open. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Yovanna Vesta. I live
in Santa Monica, California. I'm calling because last
year, less than a year ago. Me and my mother changed
our phone lines to Verizon. Um, the reason why we picked
Verizon. Was because they said that um the, the service
was better. You had coverage all around the state,
etcetera. Um, we bought the two um, iPhone 13 Pro and
within 2 weeks of owning them. My mom started having
bone issues, uh pain on her hands, headaches. Um, we
start searching and I think because the 5G uh, radiation.
And we took the phones back to Verizon within 2 weeks
of buying them. And they refused to um, exchanging it
or like giving us the money back. We didn't know the
policy. So a couple of days later, um I mean ago from
now. Um, I was on the phone with a customer service
agent. And she told me that we had the right to give
back the phone with no problem. Now we're having some
issues with them. Long story short, we wanna get rid
of this um, contract with them. They don't wanna talk
to us. We've been sending emails, they don't reply.
Um, it's not just giving us issues to, you know, connect
with other people. But it's also giving us issues, um
physically. So if you can help us out, that would
be awesome. Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today, that's why we're here.
We uh, we have our next comment, please. Our next public
comment comes from Jesse Mariut, your line is open. Hello
my name is Jesse Mariut. Last name is spelled, M. A. R. I. U.
T. I'm the co-owner of a media company called Render
Social in Roseville, California. Uh, telecommunication
services are very important to us. Not only to communicate
with uh staff and clients. But it's how we do business,
promote our business and the uniqueness of our industry.
Quite candidly and bluntly, companies like ours and
the rest of California's entertainment industry. Would
not be growing or have even survived, especially in
the throes of this pandemic. Without having the properly
functioning access to these critical resources every
single day. We need to allow these services to continue
to innovate and address the needs of their users. Without
top-down dictation uh, as is prescribed in the proposal.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for calling in today. Do we have our next comment,
please. Our next public comment comes from Leslie Asher,
your line is open. Thank you. Uh, three quick points
about Verizon and Xfinity Comcast in my neighborhood
in the city of Marina. Uh number one, the cell signals
are very weak in my neighborhood called the Dunes. Uh,
which is built on former Army, Fort Ord property. Number
two, if Comcast fails, Verizon also fails. Uh, leaving
uh myself unable to make uh any calls to people, businesses
or government agencies. And three, um during a broad
and lengthy surge outage, as occurred late last week. No communication
is provided during or after from Comcast or Verizon.
Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have your next
comment, please Our next public comment comes from Peter
Ransall, your line is open.
Good afternoon. My name is Peter Ransall. I'm a policy
advocate for the California Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau
represents over 28,000 members, across 20,000 farms.
Delivering tens of billions of dollars in economic
output for California. And feeding the state, nation
and world with over 400 different California grown
fruits, nuts and vegetables. Agriculture, like any
other business, looks to technology to help bring
efficiencies to farming practices and business success.
Precision agriculture technology allows farmers to
use artificial intelligence and data services to more
efficiently manage. How much water, fertilizers and pesticides
are used to bring in a crop. And automation technologies
help to alleviate the lack of labor in farming. As farm
workers age out of the workforce and new workers struggle
to immigrate or to be developed.
There's a need for ubiquitous technology networks to
exist across all rural communities. Farmers need that
connectivity to connect their homes to cold storage
facilities. To millions of irrigated acres across the
state. Those networks are vital for soil centers. And
for data to become a regular part of the farming practice,
and to make farming businesses. Thank you. Thank you
for calling in today. Do we have our next comment,
please? Our next public comment comes from Joy. Joy,
your line is open.
Hi, thank you. I'm, excuse me. My name is Joy Kabotie, and I
live in Auburn, California. And I'm calling to complain
about really Optimum. Um, Sudden Link was purchased by Optimum.
Um, and we've been a client of Sudden Link for over 17 years.
And a wire was broken at the pole. Um, I had to
do something with the node. And um, we had numerous outages
from November 2022-March 2023. Um, there were
several phone calls, um that were made. And they told
us they would come by and tell us when it was fixed
or give us a call. And they never did and, and they
said it was fixed in February of 2023. Um, we wouldn't
have noticed the difference. Because we were occurring
outages through March of 2023. So we've had nothing
but outages with um, with Optimum. And uh, it's been
really substandard um service.
Thank you so much for calling in today. We that, that's
why we're here. And uh, can I have the next
public comment, please? Our next public comment comes
from Kelly McDonald, your line is open.
Hi, my name is Kelly McDonald, and I'm a mother of a
5 year old in the Sacramento area. Um, and like
a lot of families in California. My son has recently
started going back to school or started elementary
school, and has been exposed to lots and lots of germs.
Um, so the easiest way that I communicate with our Pediatrician
is through a mobile app. Um, and phone calls on my cell
phone number. And pretty much daily, I'm communicating
with the Doctor or his teacher. Um for, you know, his
new educational adventure and homework. And helping
out in this class. Um, we love being able to utilize
this mobile service. Um, it's great to keep in touch
with his Doctor, his teacher. Um, and we think that
every Californian parent and family deserves nothing,
but this infrastructure. That allows us to care for
our loved ones. In a way that fits our needs and concerns.
Thank you for your time. Thanks for calling in. Can
we have our next commenter, please? Our next public
comment comes from Gary Fuller, your line is open.
Yes. Thank you.
Hi, my name is Gary Fuller. I have AT&T. And my concern
is the line you pick up. Somebody calls you, you pick
it up, there's nobody there. You call the number back,
and then it's not a working number. Well, if it's not
a working number, how did they call me? I gave, I keep
calling AT&T. They gave me a number to block these
numbers, but they still keep coming. That's my concern.
Have a good day, be safe.
Thank you for calling, sir. You, you too. Could
we have our next uh, uh caller, please? Our next public
comment comes from Leslie Nevin, your line is open.
Good afternoon. Um, I'm calling on behalf of my client
Allen Hunsaker. Um, there's a current CPU uh, C case file
open. It's File No. 578351. It's an issue with Frontier
Communications. Um, I know a lot of the callers have
been speaking about wireless communications. I'm calling
mostly regarding landline communications. Um, my clients
have had numerous problems and outages um, with their
landlines. Um, it's been ongoing for a couple of years
now. Uh, they both had COVID um, for a period of time.
And did not have phone service while they had COVID.
They're elderly, they require phone service. They have not had
it. Um additionally, um most recently. Since the end
of 2022, up to current. Um, there has been no service
but for one day. Um, the service was again fixed for
one day, but then stopped working. Frontier, tried to
close the complaint, by indicating that service was
was uh repaired, but it hasn't been. So the, I have
asked that the file remain open. But this is an ongoing
issue that has not been resolved. These are elderly
people. This, they live in a rural area in California,
Hot Springs. This is their only source of communication
for all intensive purposes, and they require service.
Thank you, ma'am for calling in today. That, that's
why we're here. Do we have our next commenter, please?
Our next public comment comes from Joanne McCullough,
your line is open. Hi, good afternoon. I live in Castaic,
C. A. S. T. A. I. C, California. And I've had AT&T for
over 20 years for my cell service. And since mid-February
till today, I have no bars. There's no, no phone calls.
No texting. And I've called numerous times, talked
to customer service and IT. And they keep promising
me that it'll be fixed, and it hasn't. And I'm elderly
and I need the phone to communicate with Doctors.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for calling in today. Can we have
our next commenter, please? Our next public comment
comes from Eve Sutton, your line is open. Thank you.
My name is Eve Sutton, E. V. E. S. U. T. T. O.
N. Calling from East Palo Alto, California. Which is
San Mateo County, not regular Palo Alto. We have numerous
power outages, frequent power outages. In February,
my power was out for 3 days. And the corded landline
phone I'm using now with this beautiful connection.
Is the only way I had communication. Lasted long after
my cell phone battery died, and my internet connection
was gone, and my laptop battery died. The corded landline
phones are really a lifesaver. And that's why I keep
two of them. I'm paying for two corded landline phones
with AT&T. If one phone is busy, I have it
set up so that it automatically. The call, incoming call
automatically. So I really want to keep my, my POTS
service. But if I get uh, um fiber internet. They're
gonna cancel my copper line. And I need to have both,
if I'm gonna have fiber. I want the copper landline.
I'm still bombarded with ads to switch to fiber. I
keep telling them stop advertising to me. Robo calls
that supposedly cannot be stopped, unless I have a fiber
line. That's ridiculous. Um, I'm suggesting you call
3 names at a time for the commenters. Thank you for calling in, ma'am. So we can
get ready for your call um, to. Okay. Thanks for calling
in. If we could have our next commenter, please?
Our next public comment comes from Walter Adams, your
line is open.
Yes. Uh, thank you for taking my call. Um, I'll try to
consolidate the thought here. We live in a canyon area
in Los Angeles. And as, as a result of that, we have
no cell signal available to us. Um, the real problem
is the infrastructure in our area is probably 5
or 6 decades old. And we are continuously having problems
uh, with the copper wire lines. Uh, internet is not really
a good option for us. Because when the power goes down,
we had 17 power failures in our area since January
'23. One was 4 days long. When the power goes out, we
have no cell, no internet and actually our phone system
goes out as well. So I understand the importance of
working towards new technology. But in some areas,
especially in canyon areas. You may need to keep the
copper wire for a while. Thank you. Thank you for calling
in. Can we please have our next commenter? Our next
public comment comes from Steven Hekydian, your line is
open.
Thank you so much. Appreciate uh, the ability to share
a couple uh, thoughts and a quick story. About 20 odd
years ago, my wife uh took a position as a volunteer
up in Frasier Park. And uh, not kind of knowing what
cell carrier was preferred up there. We called the
video store and the young kid said oh, you gotta go
with the Cingular. And we had a nice signal up, up at
the camp. Um, my buddy just called who works at Caltech
JPL here in Pasadena, 91104, at the foothills. About
2 miles from, a 1 mile from a freeway and no hills
blocking our signal. And he was saying, hey I gotta
take a corporate phone. Should I go AT&T or Verizon?
So I have both and neither provides a signal. So I'm
using Wi-Fi calling at home. Would love a better signal
from both carriers. Thank you for your consideration.
Thanks for calling in today. Can we have our next commenter
please? My next um, public comment comes from Robin.
Robin, your line is open.
Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the call. Um
one, I wanted to make 3, 4 points actually. The data,
we pay for full price data. We get hardly none with
Verizon. Um, if I schedule a date to make a payment
um, let's say the 21. They, they and they can't do
the 21 is like the 20. And then I have to call
customer service. If I call customer service, it's
a $10 fee to talk to somebody. Like just these, all
these extra fees and the service is really poor. Um,
uh and then random call drops all the time. Like just
on the phone and all of a sudden beep, beep, beep. And
the phone goes out. It's just what, what are we paying
for? If we don't even have the security of a good, um
connection? Thank you for hearing me.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes from
Neiomia Carroll, your line is open. Yes. My name is Neiomia
First name, N. E. I. O. M. I. A. Last name Carroll,
C. A. R. R. O. L. L. I was calling in with
concerns. Because I found out recently that an employee
at AT&T had been using my identity. I found out it
was 7 iPhones listed under AT&T, under my specific
name using a different Gmail account. I mean, not a
Gmail account, but a AT&T account link with my first
and last name to it. I tried to contact the office
of the president. They refused to communicate with
me. I filed the claim and I received a letter from
an attorney and he offered me a $250 credit for my
um reports. And I basically took it to court, because
I had paid off my credit and everything. And I have
found out through Chase, just recently they cut my credit
cards off and everything. I lost $1,900 from Chase and
I also lost $600 due to my credit from Victoria Secret.
So, I'm just taking like major bills through my credit.
So, I wanted to let AT&T know. That their employees
are actually out here setting up cell phone accounts,
using people personal identification.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please?
Our next public comment comes from Nancy Taylor, your
line is open.
Uh, thank you. Um, I'm calling about my POTS line. Um,
it's uh, Nancy Taylor, N. A. N. C. Y. T. A. Y.
L. O. R. I live in Auburn and I have a POTS line.
Because I have medical conditions that require me to
have a reliable telephone. Unfortunately, VoIP or any
of those other internet type of services. All rely
on electricity, which does not suit my situation. Recently
in January, during a rainstorm our, our phone went
out. Called AT&T for service and they quoted me a 13
day due date to fix my service. Which I think is, is
totally unreasonable.
(silence)
Unfortunately, our service was restored prior to that.
I don't think AT&T ever came out and did anything on
it. The wires had gotten wet and it just dried out,
and so it sort of fixed itself. Which means that every
time it rains
we have an issue. Thank you.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes from
Victoria Taylor, your line is open.
Can you hear me, okay? Yes, please continue.
Please continue.
We heard you. Your Honor? Can you please continue?
Your Honor, we can come back to Victoria. If we get her back in
the queue. If you give me a couple of minutes, I'll
see if I can grab her back. Thank you very much. You're
welcome. Our next public comment comes from William
Alfer, your line is open.
Uh, yes. Hi. My name is William Alfer.
I live in Los Angeles County. Uh, Torrance to be exact.
Um, where do I begin? It's been a nightmare ever since
pre-pandemic with you name it. Every phone company
there is Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile. I've tried them all,
and none of them. And actually it's not 100% their fault.
Because it's just for this one number that I call back
East, a family member. Um, she had problems where she
lives in her apartment complex. For the signal to get
in. It's not coming through to her building, through
her building. So that's part of the problem too. It's
on the East Coast. And I've tried every, every phone
company with her also and, and nothing works. Um, I've
tried with Verizon. I've tried every AT&T. I've tried
T Mobile. None of them, none of them are helping.
It's and, and it's getting. Now it's, it was still
working for a while and now it's, it fluctuates. It
goes back and forth. I'm talking about the phone signal.
It's really bad.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Thank you, Your Honor. Victoria Taylor, can you
please press *1 to get back into the queue. Victoria
Taylor, please press *1 to get back into the
queue. Our next public comment comes from Cheryl Randolph,
your line is open.
Hi, my name is Cheryl Randolph. And I'm, I wanna make
a complaint. Because I've been going to the PUC and
the FCC since 2014. My problem with my cable, internet,
and phone have not been fixed. I just, uh I got
a telephone number to call the president office. President
office people, you leave voice mails they don't call
you back. You talk to the tech, they don't call you
back. I have a technician. They called me said everything
was fixed. I take pictures of my television when they
say no U-Verse connection. My internet, I need the internet.
Because they put me on this internet phone and I have
an ill mother. Now, how many times we have to go to
the PUC and FCC, for things to get
fixed around. Because there's nothing is getting fixed.
And that's all I do. FCC, PUC. FCC,
PUC. And then AT&T is telling the FCC and
PUC they fixed the problem. And they have not fixed
the problem, like I said. I got a voice mail and, and
left voicemail with the President's office, no contact back. I done called the,
no contact back. And we cannot communicate with these
people in these foreign countries, when you're talking
about your problems. Because they don't understand me
and I don't understand them. Thank you. Thank you for
calling in today. Can we have our next commenter, please?
Our next public comment comes from Victoria Taylor,
your line is open.
Victoria, we currently cannot hear you.
Can you hear me now? Yes. Yes we can, please continue. Okay. Um I,
I had um, T-Mobile for 18 years. I have T-Mobile
for my mobile services and I have Comcast for my internet
services and my landline. I discovered that I was hacked
in January of this year. I immediately went to T-Mobile
to try to resolve the issue or get a new device. Um,
$6000 later, my phone is still being hacked. I found
out that I had 10 open lines on my phone, unauthorized
lines that I had no idea that was open. T-Mobile um, would
not be accountable for it. They kind of brushed me
off. I went to every T-Mobile in my county. And I
live in Visalia and the county I live in is in Tulare.
I filed a police report and now um, it's kind of like harassment.
So, but T-Mobile has did absolutely nothing for me.
And I think I may have to go down that legal road.
And I got this information in the mail about today's
hearing through Comcast. I'm looking for help, please.
Thank you. Thank you for calling in today. Could we have our
uh next comment, please. Our next public comment comes
from Keith Unbroth, your line is open. Yes, this is Keith Unbright.
Uh, I live in a large housing tract in Riverside, California.
And when I first started with Verizon, I had 5 bars
and great service. Each year, the signal strength goes
down. Now it's at one to no bars, and no service. Where
I'm at, I haven't moved. Uh, when I make a call a
lot of times it's breaking up. And people tell me they
can only hear the 3rd or 4th word I'm saying.
Um, sometimes when I go to make a call. I get a
message saying, voice communications not available
in your location. Again, I haven't moved. Uh, called
tech support and they tell you. Oh, yeah you're in
a poor reception area, and there's nothing we can do about
that. Um,
I've uh updated my phone. And I have the most up-to-
date. Phone takes all the bands with 5G Ultra.
It's not a phone. Uh Basically, it sounds like the
cell towers are overloaded. And they say it'll take
years and years before they can update that. Thank
you.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes from
Robin Levin, your line is open.
Hello, my name is Robin Levin. I'm in um, L. A. County
in the San Diego Valley. And I'm calling, uh. By the way,
thank you Judge and everyone there. Uh, for giving
us this opportunity today. Um, my complaint is that
um, as the gentleman previously uh, that spoke. The
I, I upgraded to a 5G and I've been with Verizon
since 2004. And every year it seems like the um, signal
strength goes down. And the cell towers are less, and
less, and less and they're overloaded. And I'm also
concerned with um, the fact that all these calls. That
come in from robots and, and asking to upgrade our
solar and, um our roofs and all that stuff. And then
there's not really anybody there. You call the number
back there's, it's a unusable line. So I'm wondering
how that information is, is given out? How our phone
numbers are getting out to these things? And why isn't
the cell company blocking all that stuff? So, anyway
thank you for your time and thank you for listening.
Thank you for calling in today. Could we have our next
commenter, please? Our next public comment comes from
(inaudible), your line is open.
(inaudible)
Your line is open. Could you please continue? Yes
sorry, if you can hear me. Yeah, my problem is uh certainly
outage um, and things like that. Um, so basically we've
been with Verizon since February 2001. And my wife will
call from her work in Orange and she cannot get home
uh to. I work out of my house in Irvine, uh without
it dropping off every time. I mean, without fail, every
time. Uh, we call customer service and describe the
the situation. They told us hey, you're in a bad area.
Um, but you know basically we're working on it, and
said okay, that's great. Another 6 months go by and
we call again. And they said, well what's your ticket
number? We're like whoa, hold on. We, we didn't have
a ticket number. So anyway, we established the ticket
number and go through that process. And then basically
the resolution is, um you need to purchase a booster. And we're
like, we pay over $200 a month. I'm not buying your
equipment, just to be told that it might work. Because
we've had just this bad experience. But, from what I'm
hearing from everybody else. It doesn't seem to matter
what carrier you go through. But I did just wanna express
that. Thank you so much. Thank you for calling in today.
Can we have our next commenter, please? Our next public
comment comes from Bessie Busheski, your line is open.
Hi, my name is Bessie Busheski, can you hear me?
Hello? Yes, please continue. Okay. Uh, I live in San Juan Capistrano,
Dana Point area in California. And uh, my cell phone
service is Verizon. And I have the same problems with
uh everybody else. Like the drop of phone calls and
the delays of receiving emails and text. Uh, while you
know, I have unlimited um you know, data. And uh so
and I would also like to know. If there's any time in
the future to have a star link added for the service
here in California. Uh, since I'm so, so tired of this
Verizon problem, you know. Um, and I would like to have
um access to, um internet and connection anywhere I
go. Like even in the desert or the mountains. Thank
you.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we please have
your next commenter? Our next public comment comes
from Jordan Brooks, your line is open. Hi. Um, I live
in Trinity County, Weaverville specifically. Um, I've been
a Verizon customer about 15 years. Um, most recently
this year, they've already had two outages. The last
one being a total of 8 days. They only gave everyone
$20 off and maintained that there was no outage. And
we're talking well over 4,000 people calling them and
bugging them. Um, they decrease the service to anyone
that's not emergency personnel, when it's fire season.
Which I can't stress how dangerous that is enough here.
Um, they decrease service if you don't purchase their
booster. I pay over $1,200 a year and the last outage
their tech told me that. They were banned from working
on towers here in Trinity due to COVID, which is false.
Um, I work for the Postal Service. All communications
employees were exempt from COVID restrictions. And then
he tried to tell me their towers burned up in the fire,
and we haven't had a fire in over 2 years. So it's
just been problem, after problem with Verizon Wireless.
Frankly, I don't know why I'm paying over $100 a month,
for a service that I'm not getting.
Thank you so much for calling in today, that's why
we're here. And, uh can we have our next caller, please?
Our next public comment comes from Tina Torres, your
line is open.
Hi, this is Tina Torres. I'd like to say thank you
Honorable Judge, Commissioner and everyone. My only
complaint is I am happy with the service. My only complaint
is. We have, I have purchased a 13 for my son. And
then he wanted to upgrade to a 14. He spoke with one
of the managers, after speaking with the rep. And his
advice was to go to Apple, and to talk with them. And
see if they'll do that. And he did that and he went
to Apple. And he did, he got it upgraded. He got it
from a 13 to a 14, and paid it off. And then
after that, I noticed that my bill continued to still
have the charges. I thought it was only because maybe
for that month. I find out that they are still continuing
till now to give me those charges. They did waive them
twice. To find out, see what further notice is gonna
happen. So I am still being charged as of today, $300 and
some. Because they're still charging me, uh the monthly
payments on the 13 that is no longer existing. We took
it. They told us all we have to do is take a
receipt, turn it into one of the companies there. And
we went to AT&T on McHenry and we showed them. He wrote
and said, call them back now. Let them know I made
notes everything, but they're still charging me.
And thank you very much for calling in, ma'am. If I
could make one suggestion. Uh, I believe you can call
a uh, customer service representative right now, if you'd
like to. If you just go to our website: www
.cpuc.ca.gov/
pph. And there should be a spreadsheet with a number
of telephone numbers, including your company. And they
are supposed to have someone available um, at this time
to help resolve these, these types of issues. So hope
hopefully that helps. Could we have our next, um next
caller, please? Our next public comment comes from
Doris Garrett, your line is open. Yes, I have some concerns
about my cell phone service, I have AT&T. And I
live in Riverside, in the Canyon Crest area. Um, I have
had a lot of problems for a lot of years. And I've
had them come out many times. Even the service people
that come out that are working on my service. Say I
can't get a signal, unless I walk down the street. I'm
like, really? That's a problem, okay. So even in trying
to resolve it. I've upgraded my phone, I've changed
the EIM number. I've done many things and I'm really
tired of there being problems. The calls drop, they
get garbled and something needs to be done. Do something,
we're all fed up. Thank you.
Thank you so much for calling in today. Could we please
have our next commenter? Our next public comment comes
from Kevin Moore, your line is open. Hello, this is
Kevin Moore from Petaluma, California. Um I'm calling
about Verizon. Um, I've lived in this city, for like 27
years. Had great service until um, they started removing
I guess 2G and 3G uh, cell towers. Um, so
for about 3 years now, I've had very almost. I
can't make phone calls in my house, I have to use uh
Wi-Fi calling in order to make calls. And they've determined that
I have um, poor service in my area. And I finally talked
to some higher tier support. And they said that, um
there's nothing they can do. And I said, can you put
in a new cell tower? And they're like well, that would
just cost too much money. Uh, so that's my comment.
Thank you so much for calling in today, appreciate
that feedback. Could I have um, our next caller, please?
My next caller is uh, Sherri Flint,
your line is open.
Um hi, I think it's Sherri Flint, F. L. I. N. T.
and I'm from Springville, California. Which is a very
rural community and we only have AT&T available to
us. They've been granted a monopoly. And some years
ago, it was pretty reliable service. But I just wanted
to um, connect and, and make the plea for how expensive
it is. For them to have such bad service, and we don't
have any other opportunity. Um, the cell phone goes
out regularly, it drops off and on, and then sometimes
it'll go out for days. Every time you call AT&T, it's
hours for customer service. They've never acknowledged
that they have a system failure. Even though I'm aware
that many people in the community are having the same
problem at the same time. And in retrospect, it has
never been a phone problem for me, at least. It has
always been problem. It requires that I go ahead and
maintain a landline. It also requires that I maintain
satellite internet service. Um like I said, I live
very ruraly and I'm handicapped. I have to have the
communication. And um it cost me over $300 a month.
Thank you. Thank you so much for calling in. We appreciate
that feedback. Can we have our next commenter, please?
Our next comment comes from Timothy Lee, your line
is open. Uh, hi. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
Uh, my name is Timothy Lee and I was calling to tell
you that uh, we had loss of phone and uh, internet service
uh between January 5 of this year and April 17.
I just got phone service back in time to make this
comment. Anyways, uh we have Sonic. And Sonic uses uh,
AT&T's infrastructure to provide service to us. And
the delay in uh, restoring our service was due to some
problems that AT&T has with their infrastructure.
And I think that the thing is, that I want to tell
you. That landline is reliable and it should be kept.
And, it should be maintained. It should, they should
keep it up.
Thing is uh the other uh, uh internet and phone. Uh,
cell phone service require electric power. And the landline,
uh It can work with no power. Very much again. Bye, bye
now.
Thanks so much for calling in. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next comment comes from Curtis Chisholm, your line
is open.
Yes. How you guys doing?
Doing great. Y'all hear me? Please continue. All right, all right. We can hear
you. All right. No, I, I agree with some of the callers
that gave a call in. I, uh I agree that the system
should be solvency and, you know, it should be broadband.
And, uh but I do not agree. Uh with uh who, who
who mention. I think Brian, uh Brian said he don't agree
with landline. Uh I feel the landlines, it should always
be available as well. Um, but we should also be, uh
mindful. Uh that we, we should be open and mindful
that all whole people need. Uh, the access to utility
uh, specially uh possession utility. And so it, it
it helps you to be creative. To give back to other American
citizens that, you know, that has dealt with trauma.
Uh, unseen trauma and also trauma that's also been
seen. Uh but you know it's all, it's all would be
beneficial. It ought to be beneficial uh, to the companies
uh, moving forward. You know, to help American involved.
And so, you know, AT&T needs to do the same.
Thank you for calling in today and sharing. Could we
have our next caller, please?
Our next caller is Dawn Mathison, your line is open.
Hi. Can you hear me?
Hello? Yes we can, please continue. Okay, thanks. Sorry.
Um I'm, I live in, in Marin County. Uh, I have a
few things. Um, internet access to be considered an
essential service. When one can't attend school or work
without it. Uh, for multiple personal experience, experiences
over the years. I can tell you there is a significant
difference in response time. Between an essential service
outage, which can take hours to get somebody onsite.
To an internet outage which can take up to a week.
Companies make the argument that reasonable response
times are required to maintain customer loyalty. Uh,
we have had the experience that when we tried to upgrade
our service with Sonic, which is run on top of AT&T.
That our service stopped working. And after a month,
they suggested we switch to another provider rather
than fix our service. So I think provide a written
formal answer, as to why they can't provide service
in one of their stated service areas. Um, we've solved
after this you know really uh, traumatic experience.
We solved the problem by subscribing to 2 services,
and we're privileged enough to be able to do this.
But most can't and all shouldn't have to. And then
my question to you is, why is your cell phone not considered
a carrier of last resort? When it is your only connection
to the world? I don't understand that. Um, another
thing that um, I think should be, should be changed
is forced arbitration. We don't have other options
due to government granted monopolies. Why do we have
to give up our right to a jury trial, just to use
an essential service? The next thing I think that should
be considered for calling back up. Thank you for calling, ma'am. We do have a lot of people
on the phone. So I'm trying to give everyone in one
minute.
Okay. Well, um that's fine, if those are the only ones
you want me to address. I had two more. But um, go
ahead.
So thank you very much for your time and we will uh,
we'll move on to our next commenter.
Our next comment comes from Lisa Lynd, your line is
open. Hi, my name is Lisa Lynd, L. Y. N. D. I'm
calling regarding Frontier. We live in a rural area.
Uh, it is Sanger, but it is Pine Flat. Um, we lost internet
and our landline on December 28. Um, I have made documented
over 30 phone calls. We have 15 different appointments
under the same ticket. Um, our appointment continues
to be canceled. We are with Frontier called a dark
zone. There is no cell phone service. Um, there is no
other option. Um, we have fire season coming to this
state. I still do not have full Wi-Fi calling. Um, we
continue our fire, our fire season will be here after
May. And I am continuously being over promised, and under
delivered. Sadly, with 15 years of telecommunications.
Frontier is our only option, we have no other options for
internet. We can't have Starlight, it is not in our
area. Um, and I would like to know who I can contact.
Um, to make sure that this is rectified. We do have
a lot of elderly, that live in our community. That does not have
service as well. Thank you so much for calling in.
If we can um, have our next commenter, please?
Our next comment comes from Ben Balumback,
your line is open.
Hello. Uh, this is Ben Balumback with the California Chamber of
Commerce. On behalf of our nearly 15,000 members which
are businesses large and small. Um, they rely on merging
platforms enabled by apps and connecting with customers
through wireless technologies. This is creating new
job opportunities. Improvements for many California
based businesses. These wireless networks have evolved
and only improved over the past decade. Innovation
not from top down utility style regulations has enhanced
independent success and ability to thrive and has led
to billions of dollars of investment. We need to enable
innovators and entrepreneurs to offer their best without
holding them back from competing in the marketplace.
Thank you and have a good day.
Thank you for calling in today. Can we have our next
commenter, please? Our next comment comes from uh Time Hart,
your line is open. Good afternoon from Sherman Oaks.
Um, on March the 10, uh I had a landline with AT&T
from 1978 until just recently. Uh March the 10, my
line went out rather unexpectedly after the rain had
stopped. And when I called in, uh well, it used
to be 611. I have to call the 800 number. They, um
promised me an April 3 date. And I thought well,
I'm not gonna be without a dial tone for all those
weeks. So I switched to Spectrum. My wife already
had a Spectrum number here, the price is right. We
get some extra perks like Canada and Mexico. Um, but
when I put in tickets. That uh, the star codes didn't
work for the custom calling features each time. They
would erase both, they erased both our lines, uh group
of features. And they erased my wife's 28 voicemails
out of her, and they said they had no back up. And
uh, so sometimes the features work, sometimes they
don't. And the reps don't seem to know you. Uh, you
get as, as my wife said, 3 different answers from
4 different reps. And they said they're not trained.
So it's kind of interesting switching over. I, I might
switch again. We'll see after, you know, May or so.
Thanks so much for listening. Thanks for calling in
to share. Can we have our next commenter, please? Our next
comment comes from Latrice Walker, your line is open.
Hello.
Hello, please continue. Okay, I was calling because in
our neighborhood, every time we're on a telephone call.
Whenever there is an airplane that passes by, our calls
are automatically dropped. And because we're um, we
have people in our residence who are elderly. Um, a
lot of times we're on important calls with Medicare
or taking care of um, home health needs. So when these
calls are dropped, most likely the information is lost.
And they're unable to get back to us about where we
are in any situation. So I was calling today to just
um, make sure that I note. That whenever airplanes or
you know, I mean, we live probably 15 minutes from
the airport. So we're gonna have flyovers continuously.
So imagine that in a day talking and the phone is dropping
call. Um, like someone else mentioned. My mom is able
to afford another service. So she has two services
at her home. But um, it is, it is not. It is
still costly and it's, and then it's an unnecessary
um, expense. So I would like for you all to take note.
That um, when we do call in to try to get help.
My mother is elderly. So I have to get on the floor,
and reset. And do all the things that they ask me to
do. And she's physically incapable of doing these things.
So when I got the notice, I wanted to make sure that
I was on the line to speak on her behalf. Because a
lot of people do not have advocates. So please take
in consideration and when we're talking to people.
Um, maybe a technology person can come out and take
care of the issue. Okay. Thank you so much for calling
in today. Can we please have our next commenter?
Our next comment comes from Nancy Stevenson Smith,
your line is open.
Uh, that caller disconnected. Our next caller comes from
Kelly Bradford Kitchens, your line is open.
April 18,2023. My name is Kelly Bradford Kitchens.
I have Verizon and AT&T mobile phone service. My Verizon
service is very poor, one of five bars. My AT&T
service is excellent, most of the time. Premium payments
deserve premium service, Verizon. Verizon mobile needs
to invest in providing adequate coverage and service
to customers, especially newer customers. This is Gardena
California, not a rural or remote location. This poor
phone service prevents me from finding gainful employment.
Coming out of homelessness as a service, disabled Veteran
of the United States Armed Forces. Thank you for this
administrative public hearing and providing an outlet
to address my grievance. About wireless phone service
inadequacies and deficiencies in the state of California.
Thank you.
Thank you for sharing. Could we please have our next
commenter?
Our next caller is Dal Lee, your is open.
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes we can, please continue. Yes, I am uh from uh
(inaudible) court in Ontario, California. I am the owner of my
house. I got a house last year in September. And, uh
um I was doing, I was (inaudible) my house from uh December
last year and actually. Uh I see. Oh, what's the name
management company? Management company? They send me
here, I don't know why. And they send me a letter about
I cannot do short term, but since they send me the
letter last month, I already changed to long term.
So I just want to clear my violation and I don't want
to deal with them again. I already told them, but they
said, uh they still they still show me here. I don't.
Thank you for calling in today. Could we please have
your next commenter?
Our next comment comes from Web uh Chaplin, your line
is open.
Yes. Uh, you hear me?
Yes we can, please continue. Ok, uh I'm in Torrance.
And uh, I'm retired limited income and I have 4
G uh service. And uh I pay uh uh $61 a month
even with $11 discount. So I think that's excessive.
I, I'm not gonna be able to continue with this and
I hope you can do something to help us retired, limited
income people with these uh, monthly costs. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing. Could we please have our next
commenter?
Our next comment comes from Cecilia John, your line is open.
Uh, my name is Cecilia John. I'm living in San Francisco.
I'm talking about it. My iPhone, and my phone line, and
my Wi-Fi. It were hacked since the last January. It's
a long story and here a limited time. I uh, make it
short. My phone is uh, hacked and then hack uh get into
my Wi-Fi for their own use. And uh I change my phone
all the phone lines. And uh, I call the AT&T and also
I talked to the iPhone, uh Apple company. They help
them with something and also set the case number. But
hacker has a high technology. They're easier to find
my new phone, my new wifi service, they are continue
to hack. And even right now, so my service is still
still hacking. AT&T still helping me to provide, uh
to protect me. But it's a very carefully right now.
Even right now when I make a phone call. I make a
hide and uh, you even use my uh, cellular service
unlimited cellular service. When they go to some company
when they go to some uh, uh financial uh institution.
And even went to the uh, symphony. They have the content
loaded their VPN configuration. That's terrible. And,
uh and my phone even make. I make the phone call sometimes
one time they say in a remote code. That's very strange.
And, um even they hack my uh email address. They can
modify my email and, uh they monitoring and my phone.
Call my uh facetime, they are not only uh want to my
personal information, my family information. That's
buying, uh some information for larger area here. Because
I. Thank you calling in the share today.
Thank you. Thank you for calling in to share. Could we please have
our next commenter?
Our next comment comes from Alex Nordic, your line is open.
Yeah, hi. Uh My name is Alex. I live in Los Angeles.
I live in Laurel Canyon. Uh I have AT&T. I pretty much
never have cell phone service in my house. As multiple
people have said before me, I've lived here since 2011.
Everything has gotten progressively worse. I also have
very spotty cell phone service in the rest of L.A, generally.
So I live in the second biggest city in the United
States and I cannot rely on my cell phone service.
How is this happening? Why can I not reliably use my
cell phone. You've heard all of these people talking
about it. We're all having the same problems. What
could be more basic in the year 2023. Than being able
to use our cell phones regularly for phone calls. Please
let me know if there's anywhere I can follow up. To
see if anything is gonna and just if the state of California
and the government of California. Is going to do anything
to meaningfully put pressure. On any of these mega companies
to actually make our cell service better. Thank you.
Thank you for that feedback today. Could we please
have our next caller? Our next caller comes from uh
Domain Herman, your line is open. Yes, hello. I live
in Napa, California. I've been a customer with Verizon
for over 10 years. Um, this public hearing has been
very eye opening. And I have a lot of empathy and sympathy
for a lot of the things that I'm hearing. Um, I also
echo what Alex just said. Um, I've been having issues
with Verizon since they changed to 5G service, and
5G phones. Multiple drop uh calls, no service at
all, no bars. Uh, voicemail is not taken recorded even
though you're paying for the voice to text system.
Um, calls not uh going through and needing to restart
the phone, and wait for that to restart. It feels like
the phone is changing towers through the Napa Valley.
On a 30 mile radius, there are many areas with no service
at all. When we had 4G for over 7 years, we
never had an issue. My whole family is on the unlimited
plan and we pay $420.16 per month for 5 people. One
individual is a teacher. I tried calling Verizon a
number of times. They act like they are doing something
in the settings to your phone to fix the problem. But
it does not correct the issue and you were caused to
call again, and let them know about the continuous issues.
We are good customers. We pay our bills on time and with
auto pay, never an issue with us. On follow through
of our requirements and commitments. And we upgrade
our phones and equipment on a regular basis. Thank
you for taking my comments.
Thank you for calling in to share today. Can we have
our next commenter, please?
Thank you.
Before we go to the next caller, caller. I wish to
uh, if you wish to speak during the comment period.
Please press *1 on your telephone and clearly
state your first and last name when prompted. Our next
call is Jabbar Bristol, your line is open. Yes, hi. Um, good
afternoon to everyone. I live in the Hollywood area.
And um, I've been a customer for uh about 2 years
now. I use my cell phone and devices uh mostly for
work. The issues I've been having like most of the
people I've heard on this forum, um are Verizon for a
signal. Um many of the, I've been receiving many robo
calls lately and many drop (inaudible) calls. Uh, try to call uh
for, you know, for the um tech support. It takes about
two, like an over an hour on the phone. And um, getting
dropped as well when, when you're in the middle of
that. Um, uh the only way is to go to the brick
and mortar store, which is really a hassle. Um, I've
sent several emails as well, never get any responses.
Um I have a top of the line phone, uh from them
and pay the highest fee.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak. Thank you. Thanks
so much for calling in to share today. Can we have
our next commenter, please? The next comment comes
from uh, Brett Ide, your line is open. Hello, my name is
Brett Ide, I work in land surveying throughout the North
Bay area and up to Sacramento. There are a lot of job
sites that are in remote parts of the state. And with
increasing technology, there are aspects of land surveying.
That rely on real time data streams over mobile networks,
for our equipment to function. Without these uh, without
access to stable wireless and mobile tools like we
have, I would literally be lost. These tools have been
vital to the success and navigation needed to do my
job and serve my clients. Thank you for this opportunity
to speak today.
Thanks so much for calling in to share. Could we please
have our next commenter?
And its caller is George Abadeca, your line is open. Yeah, hi.
Hello everyone, thank you for this opportunity. Um,
I live in L.A . And I totally, totally agree with that
person was like 2 or 3 calls before. This is
the second largest city in the country. And in addition
to that, like we live in the United States. It's like,
it's not top one. It's definitely like top second,
like top two countries like in the world. And we're
having such a poor, like um wireless connection. And
also not only wireless, but just in general. I'm a
Verizon customer and it's like a shame for us. Like
not having like this, a nice like service. Like 3
years ago, I was in Russia for a business trip. I like
spend like a month or so, and their internet is amazing.
Like they're like uh wireless and we're like blaming
Russia for this and that. But they're like, guys there
like service is way better than ours. When it comes
to internet such as like, such like wireless. And like
uh, other like even 4G like used to be better. Yeah.
Like Verizon and like soulless mega company, like this company
they have. They make like billions, like it's what a
shame on them. Like, like I pay like 60 bucks uh, every
month.
Thank you so much for calling in to share. Could we
have our next commenter, please?
Our next comment comes from Ignacio Mas, your line is open. Hi,
this is Ignacio Mas. I'm commenting about the captions.
That you have on the bottom of the screen, for the Xfinity
cable television. Lately, I've been watching channel
378 at 7n o'clock Pacific Time. And instead of showing
Colombo, like it says on the, on the bottom. And it
shows some guy named Ronnie Paul. I was wondering why
is there such a disparity, such a disconnect between
what's shown in the caption, and what's shown on the
screen? I've seen this not just with Channel 378, but
also I used to watch Channel 375 Sunday mornings to
watch the Armenian Orthodox Church. And on the bottom
of the screen, it would say Armenian Orthodox Church. But it was
head would show um,
Saved by the Bell. So I was wondering is, what's wrong
with the, with the bottom titles? Could you give me
an explanation?
Uh, we don't regulate cable TV, sir. That's gonna be
with the FCC. I'm sorry. So you only deal with
the. Okay, because uh I do. Uh, my Mom and I have
had cable, uh service with Xfinity, uh cable and uh, telephone.
That's why I'm calling. That's, that's what we regulate.
We don't regulate um, what, what they. What
they show you on TV. Oh, okay. Then who does the
FCC, right? Yes, sir. Okay. I'll contact them. Thank
you so much for calling in today. Uh, could we have
our next commenter, please?
I am showing no further commenters on the telephone
line at this time.
Oh, uh. I just wanna check um. Commissioner Houck, do you
have any final remarks?
Just wanna thank everyone for joining us today. And
appreciate um, people taking time out of their days
to give us their perspective. And let us know what their
circumstances are. And thank all of our Staff and everyone.
For, um making the hearing possible today.
Thank you so much, Commissioner. So I, I do wanna thank
everyone for calling in. As well as everyone uh, for
uh that helped uh make this possible. This concludes
uh, all of the speakers who signed up to speak. If anyone
that is still listening would like to provide additional
input or comments after this hearing. You may submit
written comments on the docket card for this proceeding.
Which can be found on the Commission's website at
www.cpuc.ca.gov/
pph. If you need assistance with providing
additional comments, please contact the Commission's
Public Adviser's Office during normal business hours.
at 1-866-849-8390 or by emailing public.advisor@
A. D. V. I. S. O. R.@cpuc.ca.gov
Finally, we will also have another Public Participation
Hearing that will start at 6pm. This concludes this
afternoon Public Participation Hearing. Thank you again
for all your input and comments. We are adjourned and
we'll be off the record. Operator, you may disconnect this
call. Thank you so much. Thank you, Your Honor.