Before my 94-year-old mom moved into a retirement home last year, she lived alone. She had two primary safety devices in her home, a smoke alarm and her telephone.

The telephone was the most versatile because it linked her not only to the fire department but also to the police, her doctor, the drug store and local friends and neighbors. Her access to basic local telephone service was guaranteed to her not only by the commitment of her local phone company but also by federal and state laws and regulations.

Legislation pending in the S.C. Senate will maintain those guarantees and also foster lower prices for her and all of us by increasing competition in South Carolina’s already-competitive telecommunications market. (There are more than 120 phone companies competing with one another in South Carolina, not to mention phone service now offered by cable TV companies and wireless companies.)

Because local telephone service is so critical to the safety and welfare of the public, laws and regulations are in place that ensure every citizen has an opportunity for access to basic telephone service. Laws require the 25 traditional local phone companies in the state to provide service to any person requesting it regardless of the location or cost to provide it. On the other hand, the roughly 100 competing local exchange carriers and the cable TV and wireless companies don’t have to. They can pick and choose whom they serve.

It’s no wonder that these companies have used scare tactics in opposing pending legislation that would create more competition against them.

The legislation under consideration gives customers even more choices, more innovations and better prices while continuing the tradition of guaranteeing service and consumer protections to every South Carolinian.

Under the plan, all competitors would be able to offer bundles or packages of services at discounted prices without first getting PSC approval. Bundles or packages are similar to a beauty shop discounting the combined price of a trim, color and perm that sold separately would cost more, or a tire dealer reducing the combined price of new tires, balance, alignment and a brake job.

Currently, the discounted price for telecommunications packaged services must be filed with, and in some cases approved by, the PSC before it can be offered to customers. This regulatory process requires a lot of paperwork, which slows down new services and better prices getting to customers. The legislation under consideration would not require the companies to go through these regulatory processes before customers can take advantage of discounted prices.

Customers who may not want a bundled or contract offering can continue to buy the same products and services as they do today at rates, terms and conditions that remain under PSC oversight.

Opponents to the bill are the same companies who opposed every other attempt to move South Carolina to a more competitive marketplace in the telecommunications field. Often these companies used telemarketers to call and frighten folks like my mom to protect their own competitive advantages.

These companies opposed new competition in the S.C. long distance market. But competition was approved, and long distance prices have come down. They opposed new competition in the broadband data/Internet service business. When the law deregulating broadband was passed, the price of broadband service declined and the service became more widely available.

While the recently enacted PSC reform bill put new, additional safeguards in place for consumer protection, this legislation offers even more protection by capping prices, providing consumer mediation and maintaining PSC oversight over tariffed services.

However, the biggest advantage offered by the bill is that the customer gets the option of discounted prices and telecommunications service bargains that will emerge faster as more competition is created, new products are developed and new services are offered. The 25 local phone companies in the state feel this is good for telecommunications competition, good for business but most importantly good for the consumers of South Carolina.

Mr. Pate is the executive director of the S.C. Telephone Association.