Posted on: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

EDITORIAL
Phone options mean consumer alertness

News that Oceanic Time Warner Cable will soon launch a head-to-head competition with Verizon Hawaii for local and long-distance telephone service is the most striking evidence yet of the changing face of communications in our Islands.

If regulators are on their toes, and if consumers choose wisely, this could lead to greater connectivity, greater communications freedom and more information choices for all residents.

Driving these changes is the Internet, which allows low-cost high-volume communication across the state and across the world.

Just as Oceanic, at base a cable television service, is going into telephone service, Verizon offers expanded Internet-based calling options as well as television service over its lines.

And they are not alone. Another familiar face with lines into almost every home, Hawaiian Electric, is also looking at offering additional communications and entertainment services over its connections.

It is essential that the driving force behind this new wave of opportunity be free-market competition, with each provider working hard to provide the best combination of service and price.

The task for regulators will be to let this competition fly without forgetting their basic responsibility: to ensure that everyone who wants it will have access to efficient, reliable and affordable communication with the rest of the community.

Consumers have a role, too. It's interesting to note that no matter what provider is involved, or what package of services, the basic price remains about the same — roughly between $25 and $40.

It's a good bet that those price points are driven less by provider costs than by what the market will bear. Prices will come down when consumers shop with intelligence and care.

The days are long gone when customers bought their electricity from one source, their telephone service from another and pulled their television and radio service out of the air.

The opportunities and options of this new era are far more exciting and varied. We must watch carefully to ensure we capture their full potential.