Cart before the horse

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Abill that loosens the state's regulatory reins on local telephone service providers could wind up hurting consumers in the long run, especially those rural phone customers still in captive markets. The General Assembly has sent Gov. Mark Sanford a bill that will limit the state Public Service Commission's rate-setting authority.

The governor, who has until January to sign this bill, has good reason to veto it. There are still far too many telephone customers with either no choice or limited choice to leave them at the mercy of companies that are still virtually indistinguishable from monopolies. This bill does that.

The Senate version of this bill that made it to the governor is far better than the original House version. At least it has provisions that set a reasonable cap for basic, no-frills service in rural areas that will likely keep telephone service affordable. That's an important protection when choice is absent.

But there's also this to consider: Most customers have more than just a dial tone. Under this bill, popular features such as call waiting and caller ID — vertical services that can be unbundled and packaged to the customer's liking — will no longer fall under regulation. Telephone companies would be able to set their own prices for those services. Without competition, the rates South Carolina phone customers pay could vary wildly.

It is only a matter of time before the PSC should relinquish its rate-setting authority. That time will come when customers have choice. Right now, far too many telephone customers have none. And the governor should consider that.