skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Legislation Seeks Study on Phone Service Changes

play audio
Play

Thursday, February 6, 2014   

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The telecom industry has been moving away from traditional landlines for several years, offering consumers services that are similar to landlines but are really wireless-based. There are differences, and there's a Maryland House hearing today on a bill (HB 447), which would place a moratorium on selling the new services until a study of the pros and cons is completed by the Public Service Commission.

Tammy Bresnahan, advocacy director, AARP Maryland, explained some of the implications of the new type of service.

"They won't accept medical alert or alarm systems, home security - and certain Marylanders depend on those, especially older customers and consumers with health issues," Bresnahan explained.

Another big point is that traditional landlines continue working when the power goes out, and although the new type of service can have a battery back-up, it is dependent on electricity, she added. Supporters of the new service have said it is an improvement and accuse those opposed to it of resisting technology.

Wireless landlines made headlines in New York, when phone companies replaced traditional landline service with the wireless version after Hurricane Sandy. Customers have sent their stories to Annapolis, detailing dropped calls, inability to access 911, and lower sound quality that affects people with hearing disabilities.

Ian Hoffmann, community organizer, Common Cause, fielded many of those complaints.

"Given what we witnessed in Fire Island, N.Y., last summer, we're extremely concerned that Marylanders will suffer a similar fate with this poor, unregulated wireless product," Hoffmann said.

AARP Maryland, Common Cause, Keep Maryland Connected and Communications Workers of America are testifying in support of the bill. The hearing is at 1 p.m. in the House Economic Matters Committee, Room 230.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021