Minnesota PUC Ruling: Cable-Provided Phone Service Subject to State Oversight

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Friday issued a ruling that phone service provided by a cable company is a telecommunications service subject to state oversight, a release from the commission said. An investigation determined that in March 2013 Charter Fiberlink Companies transferred all of its more than 100,000 Minnesota voice phone customers to an affiliate, Charter Advanced Services Companies, which provided VoIP phone service that was not certified by the state, the commission said. Charter did not notify or seek approval from the PUC, it said. After the transfer, Charter also stopped complying with two state programs designed to support universal phone access for disabled and low-income Minnesotans, the commission said. The commission’s decision does not apply to computer-to-computer communications nor services like Skype or FaceTime that do not travel on the public switched telephone network. “This unanimous ruling is a major victory to protect people,” said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman in the release. “Phone companies cannot gain unfair advantage and evade their responsibility to deliver fundamental services, especially for disabled and low-income Minnesotans who depend on it.” Charter claimed in the proceeding that federal law pre-empted state jurisdiction, the release said. However, several commissioners specifically pointed out that neither the courts nor the FCC has established exclusive federal authority over this kind of phone service, it said.