At your service; Telephone companies get the call to enforce quality.(Technology)(Michigan Public Service Commission issues quality-of-service rules)

Crain's Detroit Business, October, 2002 by Lane, Amy

Byline: Amy Lane The state has put new teeth in its service requirements for local-telephone companies, and it's not making the phone companies happy. AT&T Corp., SBC Ameritech Michigan and Verizon Communications Inc. are protesting parts of the quality-of-service rules, adopted in August by the Michigan Public Service Commission after a yearlong proceeding.

Smaller phone companies also aren't enamored, saying the ultimate incentive for good service is competition, not costly regulation. But the PSC hopes that the revamp of the standards set in 1996 will bring service-quality requirements up to date and make them financially meaningful. The rules span issues ranging from identity theft to the response to service and repair requests. They also provide...

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