How consumers’ groups aim to shape telecom policy, part 1

(Part 1 of 4)

Consumer advocacy groups involved in telecom—including the Consumer Federation of America, the Consumers Union, the Free Press and Public Knowledge—could gain more clout under a Democratic administration.

Most telecom issues pit certain groups within the industry against others. Handset exclusivity, for example, is largely a big-carrier-versus-small-carrier issue, while net neutrality pits virtually all communications service providers--including telcos and cable companies--against the information technology giants. By weighing in on one side or the other, consumer groups increasingly may help to tip the scales.

In this series, we explore several of the key telecom consumer groups—their history, funding, previous successes and current areas of emphasis—and we take a look at the role these groups may play moving forward.

Founded in 1936, Consumers Union is best known as the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, a range of print and on-line products that offer consumers an unbiased source of testing and evaluation of a variety of consumer products. On occasion, these have included telecom products and services.

“Consumer Reports does a significant amount of customer satisfaction surveys about peoples’ attitudes toward wireless, cable and satellite TV and related services,” said David Butler, a spokesman for the organization.

But the organization’s greatest impact on the telecom industry is through its consumer advocacy efforts. “Consumers Union has advocacy offices devoted to influencing policy that affects consumers,” Butler said. “[Those efforts] include a significant grass-roots operation devoted to providing information directly to interested consumers and providing ways to influence policy and getting involved in various efforts to push for change.”

Grass-roots activities are headquartered in Austin, Tex. and San Francisco, while a Washington DC office is devoted primarily to consumer issues at the federal level. “We have a team of expert advocates who lobby the government, testify before legislative and regulatory bodies, petition agencies and take part in other activities devoted to promoting consumer safeguards,” Butler said.

Five staffers are devoted to telecom government policy, and another eight people focus on evaluating telecom services. A large part of the organization’s funding comes from sales of its print and online products, although it does have some non-commercial contributors

Recent Consumers Union victories in the telecom area include helping to overturn FCC media ownership rules, leading to narrower rules aimed at boosting competition and diversity and leading the effort to convince Congress and the White House to delay the digital TV transition, Butler said. The delay was required to address the backlog of request for help and improve outreach to affected communities, he added.

Like many consumer groups, Consumers Union also has been a backer of net neutrality efforts, which they see as a means of preventing communications service providers, including telcos and cable companies, from favoring customers or content providers that are willing to pay more for better levels of Internet connectivity.

Consumers Union also has become increasingly concerned about the concentration of the wireless business in the hands of just two companies—AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Recently Chris Murray, the organization’s senior counsel, testified before a congressional committee on that subject. “When you consider that telephone monopolies, the companies that the wireless industry was supposed to compete against, have now purchased and merged their way to become the two dominant wireless companies, some serious oversight is warranted,” Murray said.

Next: Consumers Federation of America, Free Press and more