A bill that would limit the state's ability to resolve residents' complaints about telephone service passed the House of Representatives Thursday with overwhelming support, despite criticism from the South Carolina Public Service Commission and Consumer Affairs Department.

The proposed legislation passed its third reading by voice vote with strong lobbying by BellSouth Corp. and other incumbent local phone companies. If the Senate and Gov. Mark Sanford approve the plan, the bill would prevent the Public Service Commission from hearing complaints from customers who buy more than one phone service from the same company.

"If it becomes law, initially (BellSouth) will lower prices for residents and small business, but in the long run they are going to be a monopoly, able to charge whatever they want -- and there won't be any way for anybody to bring an action to the commission," said PSC Commissioner Buddy Atkins. "I don't think the members of the General Assembly fully understand the negative implications to consumers."

Atkins said he wouldn't speak for his fellow commissioners, but he said many in the agency share his sentiments.

Elliott Elam, head of the South Carolina Consumer Affairs Department, also criticized the bill, noting that a lot of rural South Carolina residents have only one local phone company.

Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-North Charleston, one of the bill's sponsors, said that the measure will lead to cheaper rates, even though some "uncompetitive" companies might be driven out of the market.

"The more things that we can do to move us to a free-market system, the better it is for the consumer," Harrell said. "When the market regulates prices, they tend to go down, and when the government regulates prices, it tends to keep them high."

Harrell said he didn't think the legislation would lead to a BellSouth monopoly if it became law, but he said the General Assembly would "step in if the consumer were adversely affected."

BellSouth told lawmakers for weeks that the bill would cut out a lot of unnecessary red tape and allow them to change prices more quickly without tipping off competition. Currently, it takes BellSouth about two weeks to get an OK from the PSC on new prices.

"We hear the exact same wolf cries every time we push something -- that it's going to hurt consumers -- and they just have not proven to be true," said Hank Fisher, executive director ofSouth's Columbia office. "As in any competitive marketplace, the best complaint consumers have is to walk with their feet."

Ted Creech, BellSouth's regional director, said the bill would allow the Atlanta-based phone giant to better compete with cable companies, which are unregulated and offer "bundles.".

Companies that lease lines from BellSouth -- outfits that have traditionally offered long distance -- said the bill is an effort to drub them out of the market completely.

"It's a recipe for disaster for consumers," said Gene Regan, an AT&T Corp. spokesman. "Even the Yankees have to play with umpires, but the Bells want to play with no regulator body governing them."

Legislators did tack on a last-minute amendment that would allow the PSC to broker a "mutually acceptable resolution" to complaints, but it would not be able to schedule hearings or give orders.

"It gets sold to (legislators) on the justification that somehow they are leveling the playing field between the incumbent local companies and the new competitors coming in," said Elam. "The only problem with that is, they're not equal to their competitors at all. They've been around for over 100 years."

BellSouth still has more than 90 percent of the local phone market in South Carolina.

"Bundles," -- telecommunications packages that offer home phone lines, call-waiting, Internet access and sometimes cellular and television options, have become the norm in the industry in the past year or so. Since the 1996 Telecommunications Act started the ball rolling on deregulation, phone companies of all shapes and sizes have vied to become the one-stop shop of choice for consumers.

Traditional long-distance carriers like AT&T, which are offering local service for the first time, are duking it out with incumbent local companies like BellSouth that are charging into the long distance market.

More than 90 percent South Carolina residents have "bundled" service, according to AT&T.